The Deepest Cut

Jessica Burlew was only 16 when she strangled her boyfriend and mutilated his body. Should someone have seen it coming?

CoverJB “This guy is dying. He might be — this guy is dying!” the woman screams into the phone. Her voice is panicked. Her breaths are raspy.

“Is he breathing?” the 911 emergency dispatch operator asks.

“I don’t think so.”

“Bring the phone over to the patient — bring the phone over to him, okay?”

“I don’t think he is, and he’s — oh, my God . . .”

“Ma’am, take a breath. Bring the phone over to the patient,”

“Okay, I’m there,” she gasps.

“Okay, are you looking at him now?”

“I am.”

“Is he breathing?”

“No!”

“Okay, I need you to kneel at his side — did you witness this happen?”

“No!”

“Kneel at his side, and we need to begin compressions, okay? Put your hands flat in the center of his chest.”

“He might be alive!” …Continue reading in The Phoenix New Times