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Dickson family fund is created; 911 tapes withheld
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ANDERSON COUNTY — A charity fund has been set up in the names of two of the victims of Saturday’s fatal shootings of four people in the same family near Easley.
John Dickson, brother of victim Andy Dickson, 46, and uncle to Andy Dickson’s son Taylor Dickson, said the fund was set up after the family received numerous requests from people wanting to do something to honor the Dickson family.
Andy and Taylor Dickson, 14, were fatally shot on Saturday morning at their home near Easley. Also shot and killed were Andy Dickson’s wife, Maritza Hurtado Dickson, 46, and her daughter, Jilian Melisa Salazar, 19.
Charged with the deaths has been Nathan Dickson, 19, Andy Dickson’s son and Taylor’s brother.
Services for two of the victims, the Dicksons, are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. today at Robinson Chapel in Easley.
The money will be donated to a charity in honor of Andy and Taylor Dickson, John Dickson said. Donations can be sent to “The Andy and Taylor Dickson Fund, care of Wren Middle School, 1010 Wren School Road, Piedmont, SC 29673.
Authorities have been tight-lipped about some of the case, and on Thursday Anderson County’s solicitor refused to provide a copy of the 911 call, citing an ongoing investigation. A state press official, however, said the arrest would allow release of the tape.
The Anderson Independent-Mail and other news media have requested the tapes. The newspaper’s investigation into the deaths show that Andy Dickson is believed to be the first person who called for help from the residence at 153 Pine Lake Drive in Easley.
But 10th Circuit Solicitor Chrissy Adams said Thursday she would not release those despite a Freedom of Information Act request.
At least two calls were placed to 911 on Saturday as shots were fired at 153 Pine Lake Drive in Easley. One of those calls was made by neighbor, Shelia Delilio. Andy Dickson made the first call after he was shot.The newspaper sent requests to the Anderson County Emergency Services Division and the Easley Police Department.
“We cannot release evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation, and the 911 tapes are part of our evidence in this case,” Adams said about the request sent to the Anderson County Emergency Services.
South Carolina Press Association Director Bill Rogers said the 911 tapes should be released if an arrest has been made in the case and if the defense attorney already has access to the information. South Carolina freedom of information laws indicates that information that would hinder a police investigation can be withheld.
“How will it hinder their investigation if the defense attorney already has access to it?” Rogers said.
Easley Police Chief William Traber could not be reached regarding the request sent to his office. It is believed that Dickson’s call was first answered by the Easley Police Department before calls regarding the shooting were transferred to Anderson County 911 dispatchers.
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This was a awful incident. What will it prove to listen to the tapes. AIM is really digging hard for a story .Since their paper suxs now. Let them R.I.P. and drop your stupid request
I'll not criticize The Independent here, since I think y'all usually do a fine job of covering the local news.
HOWEVER, I personally think revealing the contents of that 9-1-1 tape now, with families still going through a grieving process to recover from the raw pain of this tragedy, would serve no useful purpose. The tapes certainly will come out during any future trial. That's soon enough.
Sure, revealing the contents of those tapes now would appeal to the morbid curiosity of some of your readers - there's a (nowadays, dominant) school of thought that says newspapers should milk the human emotions that follow these tragedies dry in order to sell papers - but using this tape to boost circulation really is no different from running color pictures of accident victims. Yes, people will look at them. Yes, some readers want such pictures. No, you shouldn't run them.
You always walk a tightrope between the public's need to know and the family's right to grieve privately. I understand that. In this case, I think you're about to take a huge misstep.
No gain other than temporary can come from revealing the terror of a young boy in the seconds before he was gunned down by a brother he idolized.
I've said before there are reasons I am no longer a full-time reporter. My continuing discomfort at the thought of strip-mining human tragedy for sensational headlines is one of those reasons.
Let it go.
I agree with both of you. What good will releasing the 911 tapes do. 4 people are dead and they have a suspect. For the respect of the family, don't release them. They will come out in the trial and that is soon enough.
To the media:
Let the families of the victims grieve in private and let the ones that died an untimely death REST IN PEACE!!!!!!!
I agree with all of you. The tapes are evidence in a murder case and shouldn't be made public at this time just to sell a few more papers.
Perhaps I should clarify what I was trying to say.
I have no problem with the AIM having access to those 9-1-1 tapes and listening to them in order to put this story IN CONTEXT. There may even be information on them that will shed light on the motive of the suspect (although I seriously doubt it.)
What I object to is the gratuitous release to the public of the tapes, either in audio form or in transcript form. My personal guess, having listened to hundreds of 9-1-1 tapes over the years, is that there is nothing there that would add to what is already known.
In other words, revealing their contents would serve no purpose other than shock for the sake of shock. I believe the AIM would be lowering its standards of professionalism by engaging in that tabloid-style technique.
You don't have to search for it, Scratch, and it hasn't been deliberately buried. It's under the "News" section. Click "More" and keep clicking on older stories until you see it.
It's a chronological function of the website. The passage of time, not content or comments, moves all stories down the list.
I'm Nathan Dickson's cousin and I'm John Dickson's daughter, Tasha. I wanted to comment about this for myself and on behalf of my family. I don't think that Andy's 911 call records should be released to the media. It's hard enough for us that all of this is on the news and newspapers now. The media will always be cold-hearted. They're only worried about getting the story and facts first before their competition does. I try to keep that in my head but when I read this story..it bothered me. They need to leave it to the courts to hear it. I also would hate to flip through the channels and hear my uncle dying on that 911 call. Please just leave it alone. At least they'll warn the family about playing that tape in court. The news wouldn't warn us about it. Thank you for the people that commented on here that's showing respect for my family. We appreciate it.
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