Jonathan Mendenhall, 34, died after a dog biting incident in Springfield, Illinois.
UPDATE 04/02/24: In late March, our nonprofit filed a FOIA with the Sangamon County Coroner's Office regarding the cause of death of Medenhall. On April 2, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon stated, "The manner of death was 'accidental'. The dog bites did not contribute to the death."
11/12/23: Man Found Unresponsive
Springfield, IL - On November 6, the Sangamon County Coroner's Office confirmed the death of Jonathan Mendenhall, 34, of Springfield. On November 5, he was discovered unresponsive outside of a residence in the 1200 block of North 15th Street at about 3:35 pm. According to the coroner, "while resuscitative efforts were underway" Mendenhall was bitten several times by a dog. He was taken to HSHS St. John’s Hospital’s emergency room, where he was pronounced dead at 4:04 pm.
"The Sangamon County Coroner, Jim Allmon, can confirm the death of Jonathan Mendenhall, 34, of Springfield. Mr. Mendenhall was found down yesterday afternoon, outside of a residence, and unresponsive. While resuscitative efforts were underway on Mr. Mendenhall, he was bitten several times by a dog. Mr. Mendenhall was transported by EMS from the residence in the 1200 block of North 15th in Springfield, to HSHS St. John’s Hospital’s emergency room, where he was pronounced deceased at 4:04pm yesterday by hospital staff. An autopsy was done today and the cause and manner of death are pending additional studies. The death remains under investigation by the Sangamon County Coroner." - Sangamon County Coroner's Office
According to the Springfield Police Department, officers arrived at the scene and found a pit bull attacking a man lying on the ground. An officer shot and killed the dog. Two people found Mendenhall unresponsive and tried to give him CPR before help arrived. The pit bull then attacked all three people, police said. The people trying to help Mendenhall sustained minor injuries. The coroner's office has not finalized the cause of death; they are waiting on toxicology reports, which can take six weeks.
We listened to the audio dispatch log files of Sangamon County Public Safety on Broadcastify.com. Because it is a "public safety" feed (not limited to only fire and paramedic), there were multiple cases occurring at once, including, "one suspect down" and the police K9 had "tore up his neck pretty bad." Yes, there was a police K9 in pursuit at the very same time ambulances were sent for the dog attack on North 15th Street. Those victims are called "patients" in the audio files not "suspects."
The feed states that a man was attacked by the pit bull and was "bleeding in the face" and that "one subject has been attacked already, the dog's still at large. possibly attacking a second subject." Within two minutes, police report back to dispatch, "Advised we had to put down the dog." After a second ambulance is sent, we learn that one of the patients is not breathing. "Animal attack, subject down, not breathing." Two other dogs were at the scene. Police said they "need to be corralled."
Mendenhall's Facebook page shows a picture of a young pit bull. A person named Danielle may have been one of the people at the scene who tried to help him. On November 9, she posted: "I Was Fighting For My Life While Trying To Save Yours!!!! Nobody Knows What I Went Thru That Day!" A relative created a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs. Mendenhall leaves behind four children, ages 6, 8, 10 and 12. "Losing a dad so unexpectedly is something unimaginable," the fund states.
WICS reports the basic facts after a suspected dog bite fatality in Springfield, Illinois.
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04/14/23: Woman, 36, Found Dead; Police Initially Suspected a Fatal Dog Mauling then Cleared...
On a positive note: the dog was properly and accurately described by news channel 20
Good riddance to the pitbull I’m glad he killed that beast.I’m really confused was the pitbull Jonathan dog or it was a random person dog.was he attacked walking or in his own backyard was the people who helped him his friends neighbor or total strangers to him.if the dog was his then he’s a fool to own a dangerous dog. if not then the owner need to be charged with something with his death.
Ok, let’s imagine that it was NOT the dogs that killed him (don’t forget that two other dogs were loose at the scene). So in modern times we must expect to be ripped apart if we happen to collapse in the vicinity of a pitbull? Do people not see a problem with this, one that we ought to solve?
For example, this is a police bodycam arrest video where it was mentioned, as an aside, that a pitbull had eaten part of the murder victim.
https://youtu.be/UkiZTj6RBeg?si=tFNTYrGdNCbZEL4i
Glad that Channel 20 reported that the murder dog was a pit. Not at all surprised channel 17 did not. They often have pits with chewed up ears as the “Pet of the Week”. I suspect someone at the station either has a pit or has at least drank the Flavor Aid.
Judging by the silence of the victim’s family and friends I will assume the pitbull was his own property. Well at least it didn’t kill one of his kids, which is the more likely outcome from bringing a bloodsport breed of dog into a home with children. Leaving all his kids fatherless is a less bad outcome than that I suppose…?
The police dog attacking someone is also super messed up.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/23/we-investigated-how-police-use-dogs-as-weapons-here-s-how-you-can-do-it-too