Louisville Metro Police headquarters. (LMPD)
A Kentucky woman is suing multiple Louisville police officers and emergency dispatchers, alleging they mishandled a 911 call for help — not showing up for hours — while her ex-boyfriend beat and threatened her in her apartment.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, alleges that neighbors called 911 on behalf of Donna Stukenborg on Jan. 12, 2024 in the early evening.
They reported “concern that ongoing domestic violence was occurring,” according to the lawsuit, which alleges the violence continued for three hours without help, resulting in brain damage and other injuries to Stukenborg. The man had an active protective order against him at the time, the lawsuit states.
A Louisville Metro Police Department spokesman said he couldn’t speak directly on the lawsuit because it is active litigation, but did provide the following statement:
“LMPD answered approximately 24,915 calls for service related to Domestic Violence in 2024. Each of these cases is unique and complex. Domestic violence situations are some of the most dangerous calls police officers around the world respond to. Officers and Investigators of LMPD do their level best to manage these volatile situations with the sanctity of life (and protection of those victimized) set as the highest priority. Nobody deserves to be assaulted or injured by an intimate partner, and we work diligently (day and night) to hold accountable those who perpetrate these violent acts.”
What does the lawsuit allege?
The lawsuit alleges the city police and dispatchers neglected their duty to respond quickly to a dangerous situation that left Stukenborg with life threatening injuries.
“Upon information and belief, the neighbors reported … that they were not only hearing alarming sounds of aggressive and angry yelling and shouting from the distinct male voice of the man they knew to be the perpetrator but also heard slamming and thumping sounds which they interpreted to be the sounds of physical interpersonal violence,” the lawsuit states.
Before being disconnected from the city dispatcher, the lawsuit alleges, “they were given the impression that officers would be immediately dispatched to their building.”
The 911 call was made at 6:12 p.m., according to the lawsuit, and the “assigned LMPD units cleared the call at 6:29:04 p.m. with no arrival at the scene or resolution of the reported situation.”
“The perpetrator’s kidnapping, threats and ultimately life-threatening physical attacks against (her) … continued for nearly three more hours,” according to the lawsuit.
That night, the lawsuit alleges, Stukenborg’s ex-boyfriend:
- Told her that she was not allowed to leave.
- Twisted her arm and threatened to break it if she tried to leave or call for help.
- Menaced her with pliers, a hammer and a large knife, all within inches of her face.
- Refused to allow her to use her phone to call for help.
- Placed his hand over her nose and mouth so that she could not breathe.
- Repeatedly threatened to kill her.
- Stabbed the knife into her kitchen table.
- Struck her multiple times in the face, breaking her orbital bone and other bones in her face and skull and causing her permanent injuries, including brain damage and the need for orbital bone prosthesis and surgeries.
- Beat her unconscious and caused her permanent memory loss.
An arrest citation from the time lays out the incident as well. Court documents from this event say the alleged assailant was charged with seven crimes including assault, strangulation, kidnapping, violating a protective order terroristic threatening and menacing. Hospital staff who initially treated Stukenborg said her brain bleed was life threatening, according to a 2024 arrest citation.
In a statement, Stukenborg’s lawyer, David Barber of Thomas Law Offices, who represents her along with Julie Anderson of Thomas Law Offices, said the case “represents more than a series of mistakes, it exposes a complete systemic failure by Louisville’s emergency response system to protect a known victim of domestic violence.”
“We’re filing this lawsuit not only to seek justice for our client,” Barber said, “but to demand fundamental changes in how Louisville’s emergency services respond to domestic violence calls.”
The suit seeks a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages, and costs.
Quick response is vital
Angela Yannelli, the CEO of ZeroV, formerly called the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said quick response to calls about domestic violence is key to saving lives.
“In a relationship where there is intimate partner violence, there is one partner who is controlling the other partner using one or more tactics, trying to hold power over them,” she told the Lantern. “We know that this can look like coercion or threats or isolation, emotional abuse, economic abuse, as well as physical and sexual violence. And so there are a lot of reasons that the controlling partner can decide to escalate the level of control.”
Aggressors may escalate this control when they feel they are losing it, she explained.
“Escalating the tactics and the violence can be very gradual, or it can be sudden, and when that happens, it does often result in some severe physical violence, including death,” Yannelli said. “And so it’s really important that we take domestic violence seriously in our communities. Calls to law enforcement and 911 need to be taken very seriously. It could just be seconds from the initial onset of an incident to someone being physically harmed, or worse, just losing their life.”
How and when a situation escalates to violence isn’t always predictable, she said.
“We do trust that survivors are good at knowing their own experiences and knowing when their safety is at risk, but it’s not always possible to predict when these incidents can escalate that quickly,” she said. “I think it’s also important to note that it’s good that neighbors and friends are looking out for their fellow community partners and people in their households and … their family.”
Domestic violence is common in Kentucky. Help is available.
Domestic violence is common in Kentucky, with a 2023 report estimating 44.5% of women and 32.9% of men have experienced intimate partner violence — or threat of it — in their lifetimes.
That same year, 41,887 electronic JC-3 forms, which document alleged violence, were filed. This is up from 2022, when there were 38,708 electronic JC-3 forms filed across Kentucky.
Survivors of domestic violence can hide their addresses when registering to vote without a protective order from a judge and put the State Capitol as their address on public records as part of a Kentucky program called Safe at Home.
To enroll in the Safe at Home Program, visit the Secretary of State’s website here. Applications should be sent to KACP@ky.gov or by mail at: Safe at Home Program, c/o Office of the Secretary of State, 700 Capital Ave Suite 152, Frankfort, KY 40601.
Louisville also has a domestic violence center, the Center for Women and Families, that offers support services to survivors of domestic violence. The center’s 24-hour crisis line is 1-844-237-2331.
Read the lawsuit
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