All The Times Lauren McCluskey Asked For Help Before She Was Murdered

[demmiblue]

University of Utah track and field athlete Lauren McCluskey was fatally shot earlier this year by a man she had recently dumped after she found out he had lied to her about his name, age, and criminal record. The man, Melvin Rowland, 37, died by suicide hours later. But for weeks before her Oct. 22 murder, McCluskey, her family, and her friends knew she was in danger and kept asking for help, according to documents and 911 audio released this month. As early as late September, two friends spoke up to a resident assistant in her dorm. By early October, McCluskey was calling campus police. Worried campus police weren’t acting fast enough, McCluskey called Salt Lake City police too.

Here is a timeline of those requests for help, based off two reports released this month—one by the University of Utah, another by the state’s public safety department—as well as recently released 911 calls.
University Housing

It was on Sept. 30 that two friends spoke to an RA, according to the report released by the university, saying “they are very concerned that Lauren is in an unhealthy relationship with an older man who was controlling her.” On Oct. 1, a decision was made by someone (it’s unclear who, as names are redacted) to submit a housing report, but the computerized system was down. From the report:

Over the following days, reviews were done by housing officials but the decision was made “not to ‘overstep’ in assistance to Lauren unless she was seeking support,” the university report said.

On Oct. 9, McCluskey broke up with Rowland after learning that he had lied about his name, age, and criminal history. But she allowed him to borrow her car to run errands. Trying to get her car back the next day led to the McCluskey family’s first call to campus police.

https://deadspin.com/all-the-times-lauren-mccluskey-asked-for-help-before-sh-1831328570

[FreepFryer]

1. I am speculating, on the basis of experience, that the police felt disinclined to help...

..because this white woman had become involved in an interracial affair, and victim blaming/shaming was the first psychological knee jerk response of the PD.