Javon Stokes, 26-years old, was fatally bitten in the neck while suffering a grand mal seizure.
Pit Bull Kills Man
Toledo, OH – On the heels of 31-year old Emily Kahl being killed by a pet pit bull in Toledo in July, a 26-year old man suffered the same fate Thursday. Javon Stokes was killed by a pit bull while suffering a grand mal seizure, according to the coroner -- a rare coroner ruling. Typically pit bull owners, as in the case of Emily Kahl last month, do not witness the event, but speculate “the victim must have had a seizure,” which caused the pit bull to violently attack and kill the person.
Stokes seizure was not witnessed by anyone either, a condition for which he was supposed to be taking medication, reports The Toledo Blade.
Police were dispatched to a home in the 500 block of Potter Street at 9:45 am on Thursday, reports the Toledo Blade, a newspaper that has long been sympathetic to “pit bulls.”1 Lucas County Coroner Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett said Stokes was visiting friends with his wife and two children when he suffered a grand mal seizure and the dog attacked his neck, killing him. Stokes was transported to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The owner of the pit bull, Austin Dotson, surrendered the dog to Lucas County Canine Care and Control. Kelly Sears, the director of the shelter, said the pit bull named “Jackson” will likely be euthanized. Sears, who has no medical expertise and did not witness the event, “speculated” that the pit bull interpreted Stokes unwitnessed seizure as a threat and responded to it by attacking him. Is this why there are seizure alert service dogs, so they can attack and kill their owner?
Jackson also had a bite history, according to Lucas County shelter records. As recently as August 2, 2021, the dog bolted from the front porch of the Potter Street home and bit a neighbor on the hand, causing a puncture wound to his thumb. Amanda Knezevich, who co-owns the pit bull with Dotson, believes the dog was “trying to help Stokes and wake him up.” She also claimed the dog was Stokes’ “best friend” and that he even “slept with him,” totally ignoring the bite to the neck.
To add insult to injury, Knezevich barely even knew the dog. Knezevich told canine officers on August 2 the dog had only been in the couple’s home for two weeks after he was acquired from a family member. At that time, Knezevich was cited for a dog running at large and was “warned” for failure to vaccinate the dog for rabies and failure to license the new dog. The county shelter had planned to check back in with the owners on August 23 to ensure that both had happened.
According to Toledo Fire audio log records from Broadcastify.com, the location of the home is 545 Potter Street. On July 19, 2021 Toledo police received an unconfirmed report of a vicious dog loose at 545 Potter Street, according to Citizen.com. July 19 is right about the time when Knezevich and Dotson acquired this pit bull. In a matter of a few weeks, this allegedly "young" pit bull had a loose vicious dog call, an off-property documented bite and a fatal neck injury bite.
Pit Bull Owners Take Note
A handful of pit bull owners and family members have been killed by their pit bull during an alleged seizure over the years. We say alleged because the seizure is rarely, if ever, witnessed. The seizure is primarily speculated after the fatal attack. As deputy Lucas County coroner Dr. Cynthia Beisser stated last month about Emily Kahl’s death, the incident was reportedly unwitnessed and that it is impossible to determine if Kahl had a seizure before or during the time she was bitten.
What are the odds that two young people, ages 26 and 31, from the same city were killed by pet pit bulls while having a seizure in the last month? Both were killed in the same manner as well, the pit bull executed the killing bite, attacking the victim’s neck. Notably, the audio from Toledo Fire only stated they were responding to a person with a seizure. There was no mention of a dog attack. So, emergency responders entered that home with no knowledge of a violent dog.
Owners and family members killed by a family pit bull during an alleged seizure include: Javon Stokes, 26-years old (Toledo, OH, 2021), Emily Kahl, 31-years old (Toledo, OH, 2021), Miguel Ángel Aguilar, 18-years old (Saltillo, Mexico, 2020) Dustin Bryan, 21-years old (Modesto, CA, 2019) Melissa Astacio, 44-years old (Somerset, MA, 2019), Homer Utterback, 52-years old (Uniontown, PA, 2019); Teena Mawhorter, 74-years old (Mount Shasta, CA, 2018); Della Riley, 42-years old (Cleveland, OH, 2018); Jamie Owsley, 21-years old (Quincy, IL, 2017); Daisie Bradshaw, 68-years old (New York City, NY, 2016); Susan Shawl, 60-years old (Conifer, CO, 2016); Charles Hagerman, 44-years old (Chicago, IL, 2012); Tonia Parks, 39-years old (Rockford, IL, 2011); Kelli Chapman, 24-years old (Longville, LA, 2008); Brandon Coleman, 25-years old (Morgantown, WV, 2006); Lorinze Reddings, 42-years old (St. Louis, MO, 2005) and likely others.
The home on Potter Street where a pit bull attacked a man's neck during a grand mal seizure.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Ohio Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
07/22/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: 31-Year Old Woman Fatally Bitten in the Neck by Pit Bull in Ohio
05/27/20: Seizure Speculated After Family Pit Bull Named 'The Devil' Kills Teenage Owner
08/27/18: 2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Ohio Woman Killed by Her Pit Bull; Police Call Case...
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
Most all members of the dangerous canine society will justify the dogs’ actions by pointing out with reckless abandon that the victim had a seizure. They refuse to blame the dangerous breed canine. Instead, they place the blame squarely on the victim.
Even if… even if the “seizure theory” in this case and others were true… who would want a breed of dog which is known to not just attack but kill a suddenly incapacitated person? How is that any more acceptable than a dog that attacks for no reason? If you follow the skewed logic of the apologists which claim that these dogs were trying to “help” the supposedly seizing victim, the only conclusion possible is that these are the stupidest, most dim-witted dogs ever. My dogs (all small non-fighting breeds) try to wake me up by nudging my hand, not by attempting to tear out my throat. The simple fact of the matter is that IF the man had a seizure, this dog saw the weakness and exploited it, just as its very nature has been programmed. If the man didn’t have a seizure, the same is true. These dogs are opportunistic, and they’re also strong enough and explosive enough in their unprovoked aggression that they can easily overpower even an aware and healthy young man.
I was thinking the same thing. Even if it were true, that in no way excuses the dog or the breed most likely to do this.
My son had epilepsy and the seizure excuse for dog-perpetrated maulings/killings is getting extremely irksome. It is beginning to feel like an attack on those suffering from seizure disorders: as if, somehow, having a seizure is the true cause of the problem, not the killer dog. The pit bull community who is so fond of flagrantly misusing the “service dog” label is seriously guilty of REAL prejudice (not the fancied prejudice against their precious pooches, who are ANIMALS not humans). It is ACTUALLY prejudicial to blame victims for being ferociously mauled because of a brain malfunction that is completely out of their control. It is also prejudicial to assign seizures to a person who may or may not have even had one.
I would like to see how the pit bull fan club would react if a human slaughtered a pit bull because it was having a seizure. Would that excuse meet with their approval?
Also, Colleen, thank you for pointing out that there are real seizure alert dogs who can make a huge difference in people’s lives. Besides the wonderful animals carefully trained to this purpose, there are many cases of dogs or cats suddenly taking on the role themselves. There are stories of dogs whining to alert or placing themselves in a position that would comfort someone suffering from a seizure. NORMAL dogs (such as our family dog) would ignore a seizure and all other erratic behavior. Our dog is not specially trained or even particularly sweet…but she never reacted in any way to a seizure or any other unexpected stimuli. EXCEPTIONAL dogs may alert or comfort. Only viscous, ABNORMAL dogs would bite and a true MONSTER mauls and kills. Only abnormal people would defend such a dog and it takes a truly sick, twisted mind to blame a special needs victim.
Sadly there are people who have “self trained” pits as their seizure alert dogs. They slap Amazon Service Dog vests on them and take them everywhere. That is going to make for some awkward pictures when one goes “full pit” and gets blood all over the “DO NOT PET I AM WORKING” patches.
Why is the pit bull the ONLY breed that routinely kills people for having seizures? Why would anyone who has seizures keep a dog known for this? Sad but better the owner than the neighbors kids.
A friend has a legitimate service dog. Her GSD freezes on her if a seizure is imminent. That prevents her from seizuring while crossing a road. Her dog also pounces on her in the middle of the night to wake her up if her blood sugar is too high or too low.
Another woman’s GSD grabs her arm and takes her to her bed if she is going to seizure.
A seizure alert dog has to have a very close relationship with his)her dog.dog.
How do these dogs do this? I don’t know.
This seizure excuse keeps coming up more and more. It appears that the use of this defense had taken off in 2016. I find it interesting that despite there being very few DBPBs (death by pit bull) in Toledo, that there have been two this year and both being attrited to uncontrolled epilepsy. Is it possible, blaming the attack on a seizure is not just blaming the victim for their frailties but also, just possibly, an attempt to draw a line to the victim’s healthcare professionals? Is it possible this is opening up liability to doctors? Big pharmacies?
“Doctor, the victim would not be dead had you prescribed a more efficacious seizure mediation.”
“Doctor, the victim would not be dead had you made it clear the importance of taking the medication every day and not missing doses.”
“Doctor, the victim would not be dead had you not declined the patient’s medication refill request even though you had not seen the patient in well over a year and he/she declined to schedule an appointment.”
“Pharmacist, your pharmacy clearly got the victim’s prescription and you did not fill it timely enough. Was this a failure of the pharmacy prescription refill processes? The days the victim missed the mediation resulted in this seizure and his/her death.”
Is this where this ever-more popular cause of DBPB is heading?
As far as this case, Javon appears to be a big strong man. I suspect that he did not have defensive wounds and his body was likely found urine-soaked. The bladder empties with a grand mal seizure but also upon death. Blood myoglobin levels are very high with grand mal seizure but also are very, very high after death so that does not help either.
Is there any record of a seizure related DBF from a dogs other than pit bull type dogs?!!!
Surely with the sheer number of people who are killed by pit bulls during a seizure, there should be just as many from other dog types, riiiiiiiight?
Enough with the “someone had a seizure”, “the baby cried” “the kid looked at its food dish” “the old lady probably tripped on the dog” and whatever else lame excuse people have for aggressive dogs that maul.
I once had one fool tell me her mastiff only bit “gay men”. I asked her how she knew this and she told me it bit twice and the second fellow was gay. Clearly, too deluded to handle a 100lb dog.
Vicious dogs don’t maul children or the disabled or elderly because they’re upset. Dogs *maul* because they hunted the easiest prey–just like a jaguar.
An “upset” nervous dog will bite and run. Not stick around to entertain itself in an orgy of blood.
There are plenty of dog breeds bigger than pitbulls that people trip over, move their food bowls, have seizures in front of, children cry around and other small barky dogs yap at.
Any dog breed that’s become that unstable needs to be extinct as it is not fit for human society.
The sooner pitbull “lovers” demand seriously culling out of all the pitbulls showing signs of instability (as was done with Dobermans) and start proving their breeding lines were bred with sociability, trainability and intelligence, the sooner I will stop thinking that most pitbull fans are just too plain delusional and dangerous to own a dog, any dog.
This man is dead. Torn to pieces. While someone blames him for having a seizure, as if that’s what killed him–not their own vicious dog.
I truly hope this young man was killed while having a seizure. If true, he simply would never have awakened. If not, he felt the torture of being killed by a vicious dog.
Is the detection of seizures something that can only be done by dogs? Is there human-created technology that can do the same thing?
“Stokes seizure was not witnessed by anyone either, a condition for which he was supposed to be taking medication, reports The Toledo Blade.”
I’m not sure if the Toledo Blade is insinuating that the seizure was caused by Stokes because he might not have taken his medication—but if they are, then it is a false assumption. Seizure medication OFTEN does not control seizures. In fact, intractable epilepsy, a condition in which seizures cannot be controlled, is common (in my experience) amongst those with epilepsy. At that point, medication is merely attempting to lessen the amount and severity of seizures. Some people may cease taking the medication altogether because it causes more seizures or makes their quality of life so low.
So, again my point is that shifting blame onto the victim is cruel. It is cruel in any form, like when people blame a toddler for petting a dog too hard or an elderly person for falling down and thus inciting an attack. I am focusing on seizures because I have personal experience and because it seems to be used so often as an excuse.
Regarding dogs/pets in general: my belief is that if any pet that lives in a home cannot handle erratic behavior, they do not belong in a home. No matter how calm a home, something unpredictable will happen at some point, whether it is a seizure, a baby crying, a heart attack, an earthquake, etc. Thousands of pets can handle the unexpected without growling or biting. Stress should not excuse aggression.
dogs with pit bull-type dog genetics attack humans having seizures because one of the major characteristics that they were specifically bred for is to SEEK weakmess-then attack and kill that victim showing weakeness of any kind
being small is a weakness being a baby is a huge weakness and being elderly is a weakness and they sense it as such
Maybe some of these folks experience a seizure during the dog mauling? Those pitbulls and other extremely hard biters shake their heads so visciously and hard while gripping down, an adult, at least, would know they are in serious trouble during the very1st biting, the dog wants to kill you… it would be so terrifying, the act of a powerful dog trying to murder you (even your own dog!) it could possibly bring on a fit/seizure or even a heart attack?
I think you are on to somthing.
It may not be at seizures trigger pit attacks as much as it is dog attacks (almost always pits or rotts) trigger seizures.
Not many breeds would tear at their owners throats during a ‘seizure’ and to agree with that, is a massive load of baloney! I’m shocked that dog cult worshippers actually believe that a pitbull is some sort of guardian angel, trying to help the poor person… breathe SMH
Indianapolis had a pair of pit bulls (male and female, I believe)
owned by a man who had let them run loose on numerous occasions since 2019. They had killed numerous dogs and at least one cat. Some of the killings had been videoed. They were not human aggression, according to the owner. He missed a couple of court dates. His dogs over the weekend were picked up and euthanized. Essentially the owner and rescues were given no time to save the dogs.
Again, I ask the question. Why are people breeding dogs which will be destroyed for what they were bred for. We don’t kill beagles for hunting rabbits nor coonhounds for hunting coons.
Where is there a place for dogs bred to kill dogs in our society?
I hate to see dogs euthanized.
When one breeds pit bulls, many of the litters likely will end up euthanized. This is very sad.
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/investigations/13-investigates/dogs-euthanized-owner-fined-following-series-of-fatal-attacks-in-indianapolis-pit-bull-jeremiah-stargell/531-9447a39d-908f-41e5-aa3b-fabe0def3aa2
The two dangerous breed canines were so nice to people. On a scale of one to ten, how small of a comforting thought is that? Can guess, by how long the local government put up with the aggravated hostility?
Pitbull strikes a seizing owner again! Of course, it went for the neck. Yes, she was lifeflighted:
https://www.winknews.com/2021/08/18/2-attacked-by-dog-in-englewood/
Thank goodness they did not let the dangerous animal loose on the street to attack an innocent pedestrian, child or other nice person.
It’s hard for me to understand why a pit bull will go for the neck on seizuring people. The GSDs in my life seem to know to freeze on the person so the individual cannot cross a street.
Another GSD simply grabs her owner by the arm and takes her to bed.
The owners know exactly what their dogs’ actions mean. No one gets hurt.
These dogs were not taught this. They figured it out on their own.
Why does a GSD know how to handle a seizure while a pit bull.decides to get rid of the seizurer permanently.