Woman Called 911 Nearly 400 Times for 'Nonexistent Emergencies,' Once Resulting in Man's Death: 'Serial Abuse'
Kesha S. Kennedy pleaded guilty to felony disrupting public services, felony making false alarms, and 25 counts of misdemeanor misuse of 911 systems
Muskingum County Prosecutors Office
Kesha S. Kennedy.Kesha S. Kennedy, 34, of Zanesville, Ohio, has pleaded guilty after making hundreds of 911 calls for "nonexistent emergencies," the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office said
One person, who was unable to breathe, died after the South Zanesville Fire Department was spending time responding to one of Kennedy's calls
"350 pointless ambulance runs is absolutely ridiculous," Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor John Litle said
A 34-year-old woman in Ohio has pleaded guilty to what prosecutors dubbed "serial 911 abuse" after she made hundreds of calls for nonexistent emergencies, one of which resulted in a person's death.
On Monday, July 15, the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Kesha S. Kennedy, of Zanesville, had "pleaded guilty to felony disrupting public services, felony making false alarms, and 25 counts of misdemeanor misuse of 911 systems," per a news release.
The release stated Kennedy had effectively been using "local first responders for her personal entertainment for ambulance rides to the hospital," thus precluding emergency services from responding to actual emergencies.
She appeared in Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas on Friday, July 12 before Judge Mark C. Fleegle.
The court heard that Kennedy had called emergency services nearly 400 times since 2020 for various purported illnesses, ringing multiple times a week and sometimes several times in one day.
Per the release, one call resulted in South Zanesville Fire Department (SZFD) responders being unable to tend to a person who couldn't breathe because the first responders were attending to Kennedy's "fake call."
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"The person with breathing trouble later died. In another case, SZFD was understaffed for a fire, due to personnel attending to Kennedy," the release stated.
SZFD didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for comment.
Despite her constant calls, Kennedy was repeatedly told at Genesis Hospital that "she had no medical issues or emergencies." She still had to have a preliminary assessment, and both the transport and hospital visits were funded by taxpayers through Medicaid, the release continued.
Kennedy was evaluated by a forensic psychologist before entering her guilty plea. Muskingum County Assistant Prosecutor John Litle said in court that she demonstrated “a factitious disorder, which means that she’s a liar.”
Litle added, per the release, “Obviously some type of check or balance needs to exist, so that this type of abuse is more quickly reported by EMS to law enforcement because 350 pointless ambulance runs is absolutely ridiculous."
Kennedy will be sentenced at a later date.
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