On the morning of July 13, 2015, Carol Lewis White and her mother, Floris Lewis, were brutally murdered. Mifflin county turned the double homicide over to the State Police. As a result of their investigation Travis White was charged with two counts of Homicide. Kuhns, was charged with two counts of Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Homicide, Burglary, and Theft by Unlawful Taking. Both men have been in the county prison since their arrest in July. They continue to be held there without bail.
The issue is, despite repeated calls to the Mifflin Police Department and to the Dept. at Granville Township concerning her estranged spouse threatening to her dogs, and being in possession of hand guns and rifles as a felon, texting her pictures of him holding a gun etc... they were hesitant to respond because of Travis' newly found reformation and having been ordained.
The sharing of information between districts and regional offices needs to be a priority. Had the Dauphin Co. Office been more dedicated to picking him up for a court date he missed on July, which also violated his parole, this also would not have happened.
My goal is to have a law passed where police departments cannot refuse to respond to any situation regardless of the situation by stating there is nothing they can do if the person is not present or whatever reason might be given. I only know what Carol shared, and was not privy to the phone calls themselves, but police response must be immediate.
Dear Representatives and Congressman of the Pennsylvania House, I hope you will take the time to read this petition and understand how a failure to respond on the part of the police department ultimately led to the death of Carol Lewis White and her mother. I pray that you will enact legislation that will prevent non response on any call or attempting to 'talk the woman down' from being upset when the situation has the potential to become so much more than the operator believes. Had her husband been arrested for being in possession of a firearm as a felon (ordained status or not), Carol and her mother may very well be alive today. Because a person is not on the premises at the time of the call and is texting photos does not warrant a non-response.
