Last week, PGN analyzed a 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 at 16th and Walnut streets with a fractured skull, shortly after receiving a four-block “courtesy ride” from police. Her homicide remains unsolved.
Berry’s report contains an inappropriate reference to Morris’ trans status along with other problematic content, including a wrong identification of the first passerby to see Morris after her injury.
The incident began at 3:07 a.m. Dec. 22, 2002, when a bystander called 911 at Juniper and Chancellor streets because Morris was inebriated and couldn’t stand or walk without assistance.
Three officers responded to Morris that morning: Berry, Elizabeth Didonato and Kenneth Novak.
Didonato told investigators she gave Morris a ride to the 1400 block of Walnut Street, where she thought Morris lived. (Morris actually lived three miles away in West Philadelphia.)
Berry told investigators he saw Morris inside Didonato’s vehicle at the conclusion of the ride, but his assistance wasn’t needed.
Novak was dispatched to investigate Morris for drugs but told investigators he arrived too late to participate in the ride and didn’t see Morris until she was at Jefferson Hospital two hours later.
Patrol logs indicate Berry saw Morris before other officers
The patrol logs of all three officers falsely convey that Berry was the first officer to see Morris and that he was the correct officer to write the police report.
In reality, Didonato was the first officer to see Morris. Didonato saw Morris in the 6th police district (Center City east of Broad) and gave her a courtesy ride.
A key part of the deception was Berry’s decision to check off a “sight” box on his patrol log — meaning his official involvement with Morris began by happening to see her rather than being dispatched to her.
However, 911 records show that Berry should have checked off a “radio” box on his patrol log because it was a radio dispatch that triggered his official involvement with Morris.
Berry’s report wrongly identifies witness
In an apparent attempt to justify his “sight” notation, Berry wrongly named William Jackson as the first passerby to see Morris after her head injury. Jackson was talking to a 911 call-taker when Berry arrived at the scene.
By wrongly naming Jackson as the first passerby to see Morris, Berry could justify his “sight” notation. That’s because Jackson was still talking to a 911 call-taker on his cellphone when Berry saw him. A radio dispatch wouldn’t have been issued yet, in Berry’s perception.
But Oscar Padilla was the first passerby to see Morris after her head injury. Padilla called 911 three minutes before Jackson did. Moreover, Padilla told Berry he was the first passerby to see Morris. Jackson never told Berry he was the first passerby to see Morris, according to homicide records.
The “sight” notation by Berry helped to convey that he was the first officer to see Morris — in conjunction with time entries in the patrol logs of Novak and Didonato also conveying that Berry was the first officer to see Morris.
Didonato voids courtesy ride
At 4:02 a.m., about 32 minutes after Berry took control of the post-injury scene at 16th and Walnut, Didonato told her dispatcher the courtesy-ride incident in the 6th district was unfounded — meaning the assignment was totally groundless.
However, according to a police directive in effect at the time, an unfounded designation “is never to be used when an officer takes any action at the location.” Since Didonato took an action in the 6th police district — she gave Morris a courtesy ride — an unfounded designation was improper.
After Didonato voided the courtesy ride, all three officers submitted paperwork conveying the incident began with Berry seeing Morris in the 9th police district, with no mention of the courtesy ride in the 6th police district.
City’s oversight commission accepts complaint
In November 2023, PGN filed a formal complaint with the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, seeking civilian oversight of an Internal Affairs probe of the Morris incident that was opened in September 2023.
According to PGN’s complaint, all three officers colluded to falsify documentation concealing the courtesy ride and subsequent assault of Morris. Berry’s wrong identification of the first passerby to see Morris after her head injury was a part of the falsification.
As of presstime, PGN’s complaint with the Citizens Police Oversight Commission remained pending.