Colorado woman claims police negligence helped lead to her husband's death: 'We thought we could depend on them'

A Colorado Springs woman believes her husband may still be alive if police had responded to her call for help.

Qualin Campbell, 31, was found dead in his car this month in Colorado Springs, about an hour after his wife, Tali’Ja Campbell, said she called police and told them she feared that her husband was in trouble. But she claims they did nothing.

Now, in between planning for a funeral on Saturday and caring for her two young children, Campbell says she’s also been forced to fight for answers about what happened and push for accountability for her husband — whose death, she says, could have been prevented.

“We don’t get to mourn in peace, unfortunately, because of how it happened,” Campbell told Yahoo News. “There’s nights that I’m crying and feeling overwhelmed and sad, but with the process of us trying to get justice for my husband, due to the negligence of the police, I have not been able to really just let it sink in.”

What happened?

Campbell said she knew her husband was in danger when she received a text from him just after noon on June 2 with a picture of a man that she’d never seen before inside of his car. Two more messages quickly followed from her husband that read “911” and “Send please!” Qualin Campbell also shared his location.

Tali’Ja Campbell says she immediately feared her husband could have been kidnapped and called 911 to ask for help, but because she was outside the Colorado Springs city limits, she first received a dispatch person in El Paso County. Realizing the location of the incident, she says, the dispatcher soon patched her through to the Colorado Springs Police Department, which gave her assurance that it was responding to the call.

However, feeling a lack of urgency on the other end of the line, Campbell says she contacted her uncle and drove to Qualin Campbell’s location, which was 45 minutes away. Upon arrival, she says, she discovered her husband along with the man from the photo.

Both had been shot dead. Qualin Campbell, she said, was slumped over the driver’s seat of the car with no pulse.

Tali’Ja Campbell says officers never responded to her initial call despite the car being less than a mile from police headquarters. About an hour had passed since she placed the 911 call.

“We thought we could depend on them when we needed help,” she said. “It’s a basic human right that we’re able to utilize the emergency services. And we were not granted that that day. They didn’t respond to my call whatsoever.”

At a press conference last week, Campbell said she attempted to perform CPR to save her husband.

“I fell to my knees, and I started screaming,” she said. “I shouldn’t have been the one to have to do that.”

On its online blotter, the police department said it found two dead adult males shortly after 2 p.m. June 2 on South Nevada Avenue. But Campbell says this was only after she placed a second call to police, which came after she discovered the bodies.

A spokesman for the Colorado Springs Police Department called Qualin Campbell’s death a “tragedy” in a statement to Yahoo News, adding that there is an open and active investigation into what happened.

“While we recognize that many members of the community are eager for immediate information, it is our duty to provide the victim’s family with support and share the details of what we have learned with them before making any public announcement,” the statement read in part.

Qualin Campbell’s death is being investigated as a homicide, according to police. The death of the other man, identified as David Karels, 44, of Colorado Springs, is being investigated as a suicide.

‘We are seeking transparency’

Campbell’s attorney, Harry Daniels, questions why police did not act sooner.

“The question that we posed to them is, ‘What could have possibly taken priority over this response?’” Daniels told Yahoo News. “Especially considering you get 911 calls all day every day in a city like Colorado Springs, which is the second-largest city in the state of Colorado.”

Regarding reports that suggest Qualin Campbell was giving the other man a ride and let him in his car willingly, Daniels says, there is “no proof” of that.

“Our goal is to get answers of what was broken down,” Daniels said. “We are seeking transparency in this matter and accountability as to what happened.”

Tali’Ja Campbell, who moved to Colorado Springs with her family less than a year ago, said the most difficult part of the entire ordeal may be how the couple’s two young daughters, ages 14 and 4, have reacted to the fact that their father is never coming home.

“My oldest is old enough to have a phone and she’s seen the disturbing images of my husband. So she’s been having nightmares,” she said. “My youngest doesn’t fully understand what has occurred, but she does understand that she hasn’t seen her dad.

“We are just trying to keep him alive for her through his pictures and just tell her that Daddy is a guardian angel watching over us. It’s just been very heartbreaking.”