A Taylorsville woman dies one week after she was critically injured by her son's pit bulls.
Misdemeanor Charges
UPDATE 04/04/24: A Taylorsville man is facing multiple misdemeanor charges after his pit bulls killed his mother last fall. Jeremy Miller, 38, was charged with seven counts of attack by an animal, a Class B misdemeanor, in Taylorsville Justice Court. The attack occurred on October 31 at a residence in the 4800 block of South Shakestone Drive. Arriving officers had to climb the fence to reach the woman. Officers had to deploy pepper spray on the aggressive dogs to drive them back from the fence.
"As he climbed the fence to enter the backyard, he noticed five smaller-sized pit bulls and one adult male pit bull and one adult female pit bull running freely through the backyard. All of the dogs had blood on and around their mouths and appeared to be in a frenzy ... He also observed that her leg had no flesh on it and only the bone remained ... The dogs were still extremely aggressive, and it took multiple Taylorsville city police officers and animal control officers to keep the dogs away from the victim and contained in the yard. When the female pit bull attempted to escape, (an officer) shot her ... six times and noticed other officers shot her as well." - Parts of the arrest affidavit
Sandra Miller, 63, was taken to Intermountain Medical Center in critical condition with “extensive injuries” to her legs, hands and face, "one of which had to be amputated," police said. Officers contacted Miller, who also lives at the home, but was not present when the dogs attacked. He arrived at the home about 20 minutes later. "[He] was clearly upset about his fence being damaged and his dogs being taken by animal control," the affidavit states. Sandra died one week after the attack.
11/07/23: Dies After Amputation
Taylorsville, UT - On Halloween, two people were killed by dogs -- 4-year old Colton Kline and 65-year old David Eller. A third person, a 63-year old woman in Taylorsville, was critically injured by her son's pit bulls. Doctors had to amputate one of her legs. It was announced today that she died of her injuries on Monday. None of the deadly attacks were related to trick-or-treating activities. October 31 just proved to be a day of multiple violent pit bull attacks that led to the death of three individuals.
"We are saddened to confirm the passing of a Taylorsville resident following a dog attack in the backyard of her home a week ago. The victim of the attack suffered critical injuries to her face, hands and legs, including one that required amputation. She died at the hospital on Monday as a result of those injuries, her family confirmed today with police. The 63-year-old woman was attacked on Oct. 31 by two adult dogs and their puppies in the fenced backyard of her home. Additional details can be found in reports today by the local press." - Taylorsville Police Department, November 7, 2023
At about 2:30 pm, Taylorsville police received a 911 call from a woman who was being attacked by her son's pit bulls in the fenced backyard of her home near 4800 South and 2900 West. According to police, it was the victim who called, stating she was being attacked by her son's pit bulls -- a pair of adult dogs and their five puppies. The dogs were actively attacking her when police arrived. Police used pepper spay on the dogs to drive them back then jumped the fence to reach the victim.
She was transported to Intermountain Medical Center in critical condition with “extensive injuries” to her legs, hands and face, police said. After the ambulance had left, police and animal control officers tried to capture the pit bulls. At that point, the female pit bull "broke loose," police said, and was shot and killed by officers. The six remaining pit bulls were taken into custody by animal control. Her 38-year old son, who also lives at her home, surrendered the dogs to West Valley City Animal Services.
"Our hearts are heavy today following a dog attack that critically injured a Taylorsville resident. The attack occurred Tuesday in the backyard of the woman's home and involved two adult pit bulls and their puppies, who were all owned by her son. The woman remains in the hospital, where she is being treated for extensive injuries to her hands, face and legs, one of which had to be amputated. The attack was still in progress when police arrived. The dogs were contained in the backyard and officers were able to corral them away from the woman but when one broke loose, it was fatally shot by police to protect them and animal control officers on the scene. West Valley City Animal Services is investigating the attack, along with our department. You can read additional details in stories reported today by the local press." - Taylorsville Police Department, November 2, 2023
KSL-TV reports that the victim was feeding the dogs when they attacked. Her son was not home at the time of the attack. The victim's name and her son's name have not been released. The pit bulls were not registered as required under Taylorsville law. "All of the dogs had to be put down following the attack, and none of them was licensed, which Taylorsville City requires for all animals over 4 months old,” the police statement says, adding “The city also allows no more than two dogs per household."
The victim has since been identified as Sandra Dee Miller.
Location where a Taylorsville woman was attacked by her son's pack of pit bulls.
Related articles:
11/01/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Child Killed by Family Dog in Northeast Spokane, Washington
11/01/23: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Killed by Pair of Pit Bulls in Moncks Corner, South Carolina
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.
This is so sad. The victim let her son move in with her. He brought
his pitbull family too. If the mom had said, “You can move back in, but you cannot bring your dogs,” she would be alive today. Instead, she was tortured to death.
It appears to me that physicians are having difficulty assessing the degree of injury. Injuries get infected. The degree of loss of
tissue can be difficult to assess. Besides, the physician would want to leave as much tissue as possible in order for the victim to function.
I frankly cannot understand how the doctors can handle this
extreme trauma successfully.
Thankfully, all the dogs in this pack were destroyed. Pitbull puppies are cute, but we don’t need to put the offspring of killers up for adoption.
I’m going to take a wild and crazy guess and say that a) Momma had sympathy for her son, and what mother wouldn’t, so of course she had to take him in, and b) Momma thought those puppies were oh-so-cute.
OTOH, if Momma had a dog-free house and stood firm on that rule, she’d probably still be alive today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyowQa7LB6A
This “news” was prior to death
7 dogs!!! What could go wrong ?
Poor lady want to help her son and she died because her son was a fool to own a dangerous dog breed.not one but seven dogs.i bet he’s one the believer of the cult pitbull are lovely dogs they’re great family pet they love babies it not the breed it the owner they aren’t bad dogs and if you say so then You are a hater.I wonder if the mom want all the dogs to lived with her or he convince her that they aren’t dangerous dogs that why his own seven to prove a point.
I meant to said he own seven pitbull to prove a point. I wonder if he was married and his wife was cool owing a pitbull but she draw the line when he own the third to the seven and she kicked him out.talk about disaster waiting to happen.
The son had a breeding pair of pitbulls. They had a litter of puppies which he was unable to sell or give away. I don’t know if he had lived with his mother a long time or moved back recently. The puppies might have been born elsewhere and brought in.
Pitbulls are good mothers and typically raise large litters. One neighbor to me had a pittie who raised a litter of sixteen puppies.
The shelters are full of pitbulls. The local animal shelter might be a no kill shelter. If so, it probably doesn’t accept owned dogs. In other words, this son may not have had a reasonable way to get rid of his puppies. Taking them to a veterinarian to be euthanized would have been difficult, and many veterinarians would refuse to euthanize healthy dogs.
Pitbull owners produce a lot of puppies. They don’t consider spaying/neutering.
Everyone would love their puppies and they would make lots of money selling them. This tragic death is likely related to unsold puppies. Maybe his breeding pair was dangerous.
We will never know the truth.
Anyone else notice the fence at that home? It’s a miracle none of the neighbors were killed.
I noticed
There needs to be public service announcements made about the dangers of letting your kids move back home with dangerous dogs.
We see many cases like this every year.
In spite of this, many people are still unaware that dogs routinely kill people.
I would suspect older people tend to fall in to that group more often.
Death by shelter dog used to be unheard of.
Now it is a routine occurrence.
With the way the economy is going more and more sons and daughters will be moving back home.
I fear we will be reading about these attacks more frequently for years to come.