Two welfare checks in two states this month, and both ended the same way: officers arriving to find women already dead. The government systems designed to protect citizens showed up just in time to document the loss.
In Morgan City, Louisiana, police responded to a welfare check on August 16 near Pine and Maple streets. Inside, they found 65-year-old Brenda F. Bernucho dead. Whitney Billiot IV, 49, of Morgan City, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Bond had not been set, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate.
In Plano, Texas, the picture is even grimmer. Someone called police August 12 requesting a wellness check on Eliana Bigoni, an estranged wife going through a divorce whose friends and family couldn't reach her. She was supposed to pick up her children, ages 2 and 5, for school. Her mother and a friend tracked her phone to the apartment of her estranged husband, Jake Bigoni, 37.
When officers arrived, Bigoni answered the door with what they described as a large wet spot on his shirt — he claimed he'd been cleaning. He said his wife had come by for one of the kids and already left.
But Bigoni had already confessed. Thirty minutes before police arrived, he called his mother. "I have something to tell you," Bigoni allegedly said, according to an affidavit reported by AL.com. "She's dead. We got in a fight and she's dead."
His mother called police. Officers returned, noticed the stain on his shirt was reddish-brown, and detained him. Eliana's body was found in the trunk of a car in the garage. She had injuries to her head and face. Blood spatter was found inside the apartment. The children were found unharmed. Bigoni was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, held without bail.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the system worked just fine — for a ballpark brawl. After the Cubs beat the White Sox in extra innings, police arrested 41-year-old David Cregan for allegedly sucker-punching a 26-year-old man near a Wrigley Field bathroom. Cregan faces felony battery and cocaine possession charges, the Chicago Tribune reported. Three people total were arrested during the game. The Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong called a viral bleacher fight "unfortunate and somewhat nauseating." The state can police a nosebleed at a baseball game.
Welfare checks are supposed to be the most basic function of a public safety system — checking on the isolated, the elderly, the vulnerable. Instead, they've become body recovery operations. In both cases, someone cared enough to call. In both cases, the system could only show up after the worst had already happened.
Eliana Bigoni's family tracked her phone. Bernucho's community called for help. Neither the tracking nor the call could outrun the violence. The question isn't whether police responded — it's what good a system is that only arrives in time to tag the scene.
