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Funeral Services Set For Police Dispatcher

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By JO-ANN JOHNSTON and JOSH POLTILOVE The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

DADE CITY - Funeral services for a Dade City police dispatcher who died in a car crash last week will be held Saturday, the dispatcher's mother said.

Akeyleia Prophete, 21, died in a two-car crash. Her funeral will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at the Church of the Living Christ in Dade City.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to the youth department of the church, 13415 Johnson St., Dade City.

Prophete's mother, Yvonne Smith, said her daughter was kind and giving.

"Any people that she came around, she just clicked with them," Smith said. "She was just a caring person who loved life."

Prophete had spent about a year as a dispatcher, Smith said. She would have been 22 on Oct. 31.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Ariel Monet, 45, of Safety Harbor, was traveling south on U.S. 301 near Ridge Manor when she crossed the center lane at about 3:15 a.m. Friday and hit a car in the northbound lane driven by Prophete.

Both women died. Neither was wearing a seat belt, a highway patrol report states.

Monet, a spiritual adviser at the Earth Spirit Center in Safety Harbor, will have a 6 p.m. memorial service Thursday at Philippe Park, a 122-acre Pinellas County park preserve in Safety Harbor, at 2525 Philippe Parkway.

Monet had left an earlier career as an architect to focus on spiritual development for the past several years, Hendricks said.

"So many people called her an angel," said Nana Hendricks, her close friend.

Monet lived in Safety Harbor at Hendricks' home. Recently, however, she had been housesitting for another friend who lives near Dade City. It wasn't clear to Hendricks where Monet had been headed at the time of the crash.

Prophete lived with her family in Zephyrhills. After finishing her 10-hour shift on Friday morning, though, she was probably on her way to Bushnell to her boyfriend's home, said Dade City Police Sgt. James Walters.

"The whole city will be in mourning over this loss," Walters said. "She was such a genuine, great person."

Prophete had been hired onto the small municipal police force in December.

"She was really turning into a good dispatcher," in spite of her youth and the demands of the job, said Laura Beagles, director of administrative services.

Police dispatchers answer emergency calls, determine the urgency of the situation and get the officers to the scene. The job description sounds straightforward, but callers in emergency situations are sometimes so agitated, frantic, or hurt that they have a hard time explaining what happened or what they need.

Prophete, by projecting a reassuring tone, was able to calm people and extract the necessary information, Beagles said. "The officers had a tremendous amount of respect for her."

The young woman was hired by Dade City after working at a variety of customer-service jobs locally. She had taken some courses at Pasco-Hernando Community College, and graduated from Wesley Chapel High School in 2004, where she was an honors student.

"She was just an all-around good student," said Andrew Frelick, school principal.

This report includes information gathered by News Channel 8 reporter Rod Challenger. Reporter Jo-Ann Johnston can be reached at (352) 521-3062 or jfjohnston@tampatrib.com. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-769

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