Last week, PGN analyzed an unredacted police report written by Thomas Berry, one of three officers who responded to Nizah Morris on the morning of her fatal head injury.
Morris, 47, was a trans woman of color who was found by passing motorists with a fractured skull around 3:25 a.m. Dec. 22, 2002 — shortly after receiving a four-block “courtesy ride” from police. Her homicide remains unsolved.
PGN recently filed a complaint with the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, contending that all three officers who responded to Morris colluded to conceal the courtesy ride and her subsequent assault.
Berry told investigators he first spotted Morris inside the vehicle of Officer Elizabeth Didonato on the 1400 block of Walnut Street. (Didonato supposedly wanted to take Morris home, but Morris lived three miles away in West Philadelphia.) A few minutes later, Berry saw Morris at 16th and Walnut, lying unconscious and bleeding from the head.
Berry’s police report is problematic for several reasons: it gives the wrong starting point for the incident; it doesn’t mention the courtesy ride; it falsely identifies a witness who found Morris after her head injury; and it describes Morris as a “hospital case” rather than an assault victim.
Trans reference in Berry’s report never explained
One of the most troublesome aspects of Berry’s report is that it speculated about Morris’ trans status, for no apparent reason. Berry wrote in the report that Morris “appeared to be a transsexual female.”
Berry also assigned two genders to Morris and two pseudonyms: “John Doe”and “Jane Doe.” However, Morris wasn’t two-spirit, nor was she intersex.
Over the years, PGN has interviewed numerous police officers who said it would be extremely unusual — if not unheard of — for an officer to speculate about the trans status of someone who simply needed to go to a hospital.
However, Berry may have speculated about Morris’ trans status for his own self-interest, as explained below.
Incident begins in 6th police district
The Morris incident began at Juniper and Chancellor streets in the 6th police district, where Morris was inebriated. At 3:10 a.m., Dec. 22, 2002, Didonato and Officer Kenneth Novak were dispatched to investigate her for drugs.
At 3:13 a.m., Didonato arrived at the scene, canceled medics and embarked on the courtesy ride. Novak told investigators he arrived at Juniper and Chancellor shortly after the ride commenced, thus he didn’t participate.
911 callers seek help for Morris in 9th police district
At 3:25 a.m., passing motorists began calling 911 at 16th and Walnut streets, where Morris was lying in the street, unconscious and bleeding from the head.
Berry arrived at the scene — which is in the 9th police district — and told a dispatcher at 3:31 a.m.: “From a witness, it looks like it’s just gonna be a hospital case. This female, they found her lying in the street and she’s bleeding from the head.”
About 40 minutes later, medics transported Morris to Jefferson Hospital, where she lingered for 64 hours until dying at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 24, 2002.
Didonato and Novak remain at traffic stop
While Morris was lying at 16th and Walnut, Didonato initiated a traffic stop near City Hall. Novak promptly joined her there. They remained at the traffic stop for more than an hour.
Didonato told investigators she could hear over police radio that someone needed help at 16th and Walnut but she didn’t think it involved Morris.
“Yes, I remember hearing a police officer get on the air and say they had an auto-ped [automobile accident involving a pedestrian] in the 1600 block of Walnut Street,” Didonato said. “I said to myself, ‘Did he say 1600 Walnut?’ But I figured it couldn’t be the same person I dropped off and I continued my [traffic] stop. It wasn’t until later on that I met Police Officer Berry at Jefferson Hospital and realized it was the same female I dropped off at 1500 Walnut Street.”
Supposedly, neither Didonato nor Novak realized the person lying at 16th and Walnut was the same person they were dispatched to investigate, just 15 minutes earlier.
Berry refers to Morris as a female on police radio
At 16th and Walnut, Berry referred to Morris in female terms over police radio. This possibly contributed to Didonato’s confusion, because Berry and Didonato had previously discussed Morris in male terms when Morris was inside Didonato’s vehicle.
“I saw her [Didonato] at the 1400 block of Walnut Street with Mr. Morris in the back of her car,” Berry told investigators. “I just asked her if she needed any help. [Didonato] said that she was dropping Mr. Morris off right there. After I found out that she didn’t need my assistance, I continued patrolling my sector.”
If Berry went over police radio and referred to Morris in male terms (as he had previously with Didonato) — or if he indicated any ambiguity about Morris’ gender — it would have been clearer to Didonato that her courtesy-ride recipient was lying at 16th and Walnut.
Instead, Berry maintained control at 16th and Walnut and designated Morris as a 9th police district “hospital case” rather than a 6th district courtesy-ride recipient and subsequent assault victim.
Two hours later, all three officers went to Jefferson Hospital and completed their paperwork. (Didonato told investigators she could have completed her paperwork as late as 7:45 a.m.) All of their paperwork referred to Morris in the context of being a “hospital case” transported by medics.
Berry never publicly explained his trans reference
Berry has never publicly explained his reference to Morris’ trans status in his police report — and investigators never asked. Investigators treated Berry deferentially, according to records reviewed by PGN.
Without an alternate explanation from Berry, it’s likely his police report was written for self-serving reasons — not to shed light on what happened to Morris.
Berry wrote that Morris appeared to him to be a “transsexual female” — meaning Berry thought Morris had gender-affirmation surgery. Otherwise, Berry would have been required to refer to Morris in male terms, pursuant to police protocol in 2002.
In summary, Berry’s purported belief that Morris had gender-affirmation surgery contributed to all three officers’ failure to communicate at 16th and Walnut and to link the courtesy ride with the 16th and Walnut incident.
Instead, they met at Jefferson Hospital two hours later, and represented Morris in their paperwork simply as a “hospital case” transported there by medics — with no mention of the courtesy ride whatsoever.
Next week, PGN will examine the possible reasons why Berry wrote false information in his police report about the first person who found Morris lying at 16th and Walnut streets.