*Warning: The 911 calls in this story may be disturbing for viewers.*
911 calls made by family and a good samaritan concerned for a mother and her young daughter who were found dead last week in a Milwaukee lake were released.
Those calls were made the day before police found a 25-year-old Milwaukee woman and her seven-year-old daughter dead inside their submerged car in Northridge Lake. The two have been identified as Khalilah Brister and Tyrielle Jefferson. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office is calling it a murder-suicide.
The family believes Khalilah and Tyrielle's deaths could have been prevented. 911 calls started at least 24 hours before they were found dead. Khalilah's mom reported to Milwaukee police that her daughter, Khalilah, had stolen her car and that 7-year-old Tyrielle was with her. The family now wants to know why an Amber Alert was not issued.
RELATED: Family identifies woman, child found dead inside submerged car in Northridge Lake
"The daughter was already crying and freaking out and she said her mom told her to find someone to use their phone because she was going to jump in the water," a good samaritan can be heard in the 911 call. "We were down by Bradford Beach by landing where the boat landing is and a little girl came running up saying her mom was going to jump in the water. We ran out by the pier. The mom was standing on the pier, and she was bawling and saying she couldn't do it anymore, saying she didn't have any gas money so I gave her $20 and her and her daughter drove off and said they were going to Green Bay Road and Brown Deer Road."
That woman called police, took photos of the car the mother and daughter drove off in, and gave police a description of what they were wearing.
Before that, the woman had let Khalilah and Tyrielle use her phone to call family. The woman then called the family back to alert them more about the interaction they had.
A 911 call from Khalilah’s mom, Jackie Brister, was also shared.
“She said my granddaughter came running at her, telling her my daughter is trying to kill her and herself,” Brister told dispatchers.
Earlier Wednesday, Khalilah’s mom called Milwaukee police to report Khalilah had taken off with Tyrielle in a family member’s car she didn’t have permission to drive. She also shared that Khalilah was mentally unstable. Milwaukee police are not commenting because they are still actively investigating this case.
The Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management says it received a call transfer from City of Milwaukee dispatchers regarding a welfare check at Bradford Beach.
Milwaukee County Sheriff’s deputies were sent there. They reported the mother and daughter were already gone.
The Office of Emergency Management says Brown Deer police were notified that Khalilah and Tyrielle might be traveling there.
Less than 24 hours later, the mother and daughter were found dead in Northridge Lake near Brown Deer Road and 70th Street. The car they were in was submerged in water.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office says it is still looking into the timeline of all this, and communications between jurisdictions and law enforcement.
We pressed both Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on this issue as well.
“I know there were some issues around communication on this issue,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it’s a tragic incident. My heart goes out to the family of this young mother and daughter. It’s sad for our city. There are constant conversations we’re having right now around public safety answering points.”
“We are figuring out how to make sure this never happens again,” Crowley said. “I do not know every aspect of this, since it’s still under investigation. But I’m very interested in getting to the bottom of what happened and where the ball was dropped. A ball is dropped whenever there is senseless death in our community.”
