Police worker accused in killing

A Boston Police Department 911 dispatcher who authorities believe fatally stabbed her husband early Saturday was expected to turn herself in to face homicide charges, officials said yesterday.

Sharon Fitzpatrick , 35, contacted authorities through her family, who told police yesterday that she would surrender, said Elaine Driscoll , police spokeswoman.

Later, Driscoll said police did not show Fitzpatrick special treatment by not arresting her immediately. Detectives interviewed Fitzpatrick multiple times and late into Saturday evening, then applied for an emergency arrest warrant yesterday, she said.

"We just had to let the process happen [Saturday] night, and when the decision was made to charge her, the detectives went out and got an emergency arrest warrant. This is not a case of awarding any type of preferential treatment," Driscoll said.

Fitzpatrick, who had been working for the Police Department for almost two years, has been placed on administrative leave, Driscoll said.

Fitzpatrick is accused of killing her husband, Sylvester Mitchell , 40, in their Dorchester home, police said.

Driscoll said she did not know the motive in the killing. She said police had been called to the couple's home in July 2005, following an argument. Police informed Fitzpatrick that she could seek a restraining order, but she did not, Driscoll said.

Fitzpatrick, who has family on Cape Cod, could not be reached for comment yesterday. A man who answered the door at her family's house in Mashpee declined to comment.

Her stepmother, Mary Hendricks , who also lives in Mashpee, said she had not spoken to Fitzpatrick in several years and did not know she had remarried.

"She's been in abusive relationships in the past," Hendricks said. "Her last husband beat her, and she's had boyfriends that beat her."

In October 2003, Fitzpatrick filed a report at the Dorchester police station, complaining that her husband at the time, Derek Fitzpatrick, had beaten their son with a belt. When she tried to stop him, according to the report, he pushed her aside and refused to let her out of the house or call police. When he left, she went to the police station, Driscoll said.

It was unknown yesterday what led to the fatal fight Saturday between Mitchell and Fitzpatrick. His family told Fox-TV yesterday that Fitzpatrick could be volatile. In an interview with the Globe on Saturday, his sister, Sophia Mitte, described Mitchell as a hard-working car detailer who took care of Fitzpatrick's five children.

"It's just hard to believe he's dead," she said.

Neighbors on Evans Street were shocked at the killing and described the couple as polite and peaceful. Calvin Pledger, who lives next door, was walking his dog on Evans Street yesterday and stopped to watch police search the house.

"They seemed like a really nice couple," he said. "I never saw them fighting or yelling or anything like that."

Pledger said he saw Mitchell on Friday after he returned from a fishing trip in Plymouth with friends. Mitchell, whose birthday was Saturday, was supposed to vacation soon in Panama. Pledger said he did not think Fitzpatrick was supposed to go with him.

John Hendry, who lives across the street from the couple, said he saw Mitchell hit the family's dog on several occasions. "He had a temper," Hendry said.

A Quincy woman who declined to identify herself showed up at the Dorchester house yesterday afternoon and yelled at police when they refused to give her information because she did not have identification.

She told the Globe she had planned to celebrate Mitchell's birthday with the couple Saturday night but never heard from them and became worried.

She said she tried to call Fitzpatrick's cellphone Saturday and yesterday.

"I knew something was wrong when she wasn't answering her phone," the woman said. "I came because I wanted to make sure she was all right."

She said there was no history of abuse in the relationship. "They got along fine," she said.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.