Category Archives: Criminal Charges & Trials

A collection of blog posts documenting the criminal trials of the owners of dangerous dog breeds after their dog seriously injures or kills a person.

Defendant Diane Cockrell Pleads No Contest in Double Fatal Dog Mauling in Livingston County

Dog Owner Sentenced UPDATE 09/18/08: The owner of the dogs that mauled to death two people last year, Cheryl Harper, 56, and Edward Gierlach, 91, has been sentenced. Diane Cockrell, 52, of Iosco Township, was ordered to serve a minimum of 3.5 years to a maximum of 15 years in prison for allowing her American bulldogs-mixes to run free and kill two people in rural Iosco Township in 2007. The MLive Michigan article reported that Cockrell shocked some people in the packed courtroo… [Read full blog post]
Posted on by

2008 Dog Bite Fatality: 7-Year Old Boy Attacked and Killed by Pit Bulls in Breckenridge, Texas

Owners Charged under Texas Felony Dog Attack Statute Tanner Joshua Monk, 7-years old, was killed by four pit bulls belonging to his neighbors. Owners Receive 7 Years UPDATE 10/11/08: Both defendants were sentenced to seven years in prison in connection to the mauling death 7-year old Tanner Joshua Monk. Crystal Watson sobbed, "I wish I could go back to that day; I wished I’d never left." Jack Wayne Smith said, "I would trade places with that young boy anytime or with any child.… [Read full blog post]
Posted on by

State Supreme Court Reinstates Conviction In 2006 Fatal Dog Mauling Case

2006 Fatal Dog Attack of 10-Year old John Matthew Davis John Matthew Davis, 10-years old, was killed by a pack of dogs in Dillon. Supreme Court Reinstates Conviction archived UPDATE 08/20/14: South Carolina's highest court reinstated the conviction of Bentley Collins whose dogs mauled to death a 10-year old boy in 2006. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an appeals court decision, which had overturned Collins' conviction and sentence for involuntary manslau… [Read full blog post]

2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Boy Killed by His Grandmother's Pit Bull in Killeen

Grandmother and Mother Indicted in Mauling Death Deferred Adjudication UPDATE 01/13/12: Four years after a woman's pit bull killed her grandson, she was sentenced to probation. Brenda Ellen Parker, 51, received five years of deferred adjudication and 200 hours of community service in connection to the death of 11-year old Seth Lovitt. Parker previously pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide. In 2009, a grand jury indicted Parker and Seth's mother, Misty L. Lo… [Read full blog post]