Police said Danny Stearns died after he was strangled with a belt.

DALLAS - After a foster father was allegedly strangled by the biological mother of one his foster children, questions have been raised if he may have been able to be saved by a quicker emergency response.

Police said they believe Angela Johnson killed Danny Stearns after he accused her 16-year-old son of stealing money.

But as the confrontation occurred, the man who called 911 that day, David Lyles, said it took three calls before officers came to the scene. He said at that point, it was too late.

Lyles said he knew something was wrong when he saw a 4-year-old boy dart across six lanes of traffic.

"A little boy ran across the street in front of my car," he said.

After he saw the frantic boy, Lyles said the boy's words confirmed his fears.

"He said, 'There is a man trying to kill my mother, and my mother has a knife," he said.

At 11:38 a.m., he made the first 911 call and told operators a child was claiming someone was being killed. When officers didn't arrive six minutes later, he called again.

"And I said, 'Somebody is about to get killed out here, and there's no police," he said. "'Where is the police? This is a life and death matter.'"

Another ten minutes passed and he called again.

"That time I was angry because no one had shown up," Lyles said.

Officers arrived within seconds of the third call, but at that point 16 minutes had already passed.

Lyles said the little boy's 16-year-old brother had taken him back across the street to the condos where Stearns was killed. When police checked, they found 47-year-old Stearns strangled with a belt.

Police arrested the victim's foster son and Johnson for murder.

"I was outraged," Lyles said. "I was devastated, disgusted and outraged."

In Dallas, the fire department answers and prioritizes 911 calls. In Stearn's case, the operator told police they were dealing with an abandoned child, which made it a priority two call. That type of call takes police an average of about 17 minutes to arrive.

If the operator had made it a priority one, protocol calls for an immediate response with lights and sirens on the patrol car.

Dallas Fire-Rescue has not released the 911 calls despite numerous requests. The call may have been coded properly, but the 911 system in Dallas is convoluted sometimes, which slows the process down.

Dallas is the only major city in the country where calls are first routed to the fire department and then to police. In most cities, calls go directly to a police department.

E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com