Near the end of their telephone call, Melissa spelled out her mother’s name and asked if they could arrange a three-way connection. Vanessa Barnes said that wasn’t possible but promised to call Melissa’s mother. Melissa gasped for air, sensing that time was running out. She had one more request for the 9-1-1 dispatcher, a message for her mother: “Tell her,” Melissa said, halting between words, “I love her, with all my heart and soul, and that she was the best mother a person could ever have.”
