2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Cora Lee Suehead Attacked by Pit Bulls

Two Family Deaths Follow
UPDATE 07/18/08: Forensic tests have confirmed the cause of Cora Lee Suehead's death: pit bull mauling. The 61-year old woman was found dead near her home December 4th, 2007. The pit bulls were taken from her property and underwent DNA testing. The dogs belonged to a relative who had been living on the Suehead property. The dogs have since been destroyed; no charges were ever filed. In the wake of her death, two family deaths have followed.

      Walter Suehead, 70, the husband of Cora Lee Suehead, the 61-year-old woman who was killed by the dogs, died of natural causes Sunday in an Auburn hospital, officials for Chapel of the Hills in Auburn said.
His wife was found dead Dec. 4 on family property. Four pit bulls belonging to a relative were seized by Placer County Animal Control officers.
The dogs were destroyed Feb. 29 after state forensics tests confirmed the animals had attacked the woman, said Sheriff's Lt. Jeffrey Ausnow.
The Sueheads' daughter, Tammy Cummins, 42, was found dead in an Auburn home Dec. 20. Friends said she had been despondent over her mother's death. - Art Campos, The Sac Bee, Friday, July 18, 2008

02/13/08: No Criminal Charges
Placer County, CA - Pathology results are still pending in the case of Cora Lee Suehead
who was found fatally mauled about 100 yards from her home in December. Until results can be finalized, officials can't contribute her death to the four pit bull dogs they removed from her property. Police determined that no criminal charges are going to be filed. "Detectives have conducted a thorough investigation" and there’s nothing to indicate that the dogs were known to be vicious.

      The body Suehead, 61, a longtime Placer County resident, was found around noon Dec. 4 about 100 yards from her Foresthill home.
"The pathology report is still pending to determine if the dogs contributed to Cora Suehead's death," said Lt. Jeff Ausnow of the Placer County Sheriff's Department. At this time we have determined that no criminal charges are going to be filed."
Suehead's body was found by a family member in an area with heavy shrubbery near a home in the 19000 block of Foresthill Road, said Det. Sgt. Dennis Walsh. She was not dressed for the damp and chilly weather.
Suehead's body had sustained extensive damage caused by animals, said Dena Erwin, spokeswoman for the Placer County Sheriff's Department.
Four pit bulls were removed from the property by Placer County animal control officers. - Penne Usher, Auburn Journal, Feb. 13, 2008

01/01/08: Still Determining Cause of Death
Placer County, CA - 61-year old Cora Lee Suehead was found mauled to death by animals near her home on December 4th, 2007. It is suspected that her pit bulls are to blame. Four of the pit bulls were removed from her property and underwent DNA sampling. Authorities know the dogs attacked her, but they cannot determine if they attacked her before or after she died.

A veterinarian commented: "At this point, there is nothing to indicate that animals contributed to her death. But there is certainly evidence that animals damaged her body after death." So far, local autopsy results have proven inconclusive. Officials now must send samples to the Department of Justice and toxicology. It may take two months to get the results.

In a related tragedy, 16 days later, 42-year old Tammy Cummins was found dead in her Auburn, California home. Tammy was Cora's daughter. Close friends said Cummins may have been despondent over the death of her mother. A toxicology report on Cummins will not be available for a few weeks. As it stands, causes for both deaths are unknown.

2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Kelly Caldwell Killed Pit Bulls on Christmas Day in Yermo, California

Pit Bull Owners Arrested and Charged with a Felony

Dog Owners Arrested
UPDATE 09/18/08: The owners of the pit bulls that brutally killed Kelly Caldwell on Christmas Day have been arrested. Jeffrey Dwayne King Jr. 23, and John Allan Peterson, 23, of Yermo were arrested in Barstow on September 17 and booked into jail on suspicion of failure to control a mischievous animal, resulting in death, a felony. In a photo taken by the Desert Dispatch on December 27, 2007, pit bull owner Jeff King holds up a photo of a pit bull licking a baby's face.

After reviewing the case, the District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for the arrest of King and Peterson Wednesday. The Pit Bull owners were scheduled for an arraignment Friday.

Caldwell’s parents, Carol and Cecil Tanner said the family has been waiting a long time for some sort of action to be taken against the dogs’ owners.

“My daughter’s life meant something, and I’m glad there’s justice somewhere for that,” Carol said. - Abby Sewell, Desert Dispatch, September 18, 2008

08/21/08: DNA Confirms Pit Bulls
DNA test results have confirmed that two pit bulls shot by deputies in December mauled a woman to death. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department sent its final report to the district attorneys office, after lab results from the county crime lab showed that blood found on the dogs match DNA from the victim, 45-year old Kelly Caldwell. The district attorney's office will now determine whether to file charges against the owners of the dogs, John Peterson and Jeff King.

Despite the long wait for DNA test results, Hart said the final answer came as no surprise.

“There really wasn’t much question that these dogs were involved, but now there’s absolute confirmation that they were involved,” he said.

Caldwell’s mother, Carol Tanner, said that after months of waiting, she was glad to hear that the case is moving forward.

“I would be happy just to know that those gentlemen are going to go to jail for being negligent with their dogs,” she said. - Abby Sewell, Desert Dispatch, August 21, 2008

12/30/07: Victim's Family in Shock
The family of Kelly Caldwell can't make sense of what happened that Christmas Day. Her daughter, Rhonda Dugger, lived with Caldwell in Yermo. She spent Christmas morning with her mother. She does not understand why her mother was walking alone that night near Yermo Road and Second Street when the dogs attacked and killed her. "It was horrible, absolutely horrible. She was gone when I got there. I never saw her take another breath,” Dugger said of her mother.

Theresa Davies, Caldwell's sister, said her sister had a medical condition that left her with "weak lungs and forced her to always walk with a companion," reports the Desert Dispatch. Davies said she was a tough woman, however, with a rough side. Davies and Bugger both said Caldwell rubbed people the wrong way and she had enemies in Yermo. Both still loved her, reports the Dispatch. “I love my sister. I love my sister to death, but a lot of people didn’t like her,” Davies said.

Both Dugger and Davies said Caldwell’s body was badly damaged by the attack. Dugger said it looked like Caldwell’s legs had been run over by a car. Pieces of her body were scattered around the scene. Davies, who saw her sister in the emergency room, said she had skin nowhere else on her body but her face.

“I can’t fathom it. I can’t believe an animal could do that,” she said, “but I saw her in the emergency room, and they did do that to her.” - Aaron Aupperlee, Desert Dispatch, December 28, 2007

Two of the four pit bulls were shot on scene by deputies and the other two were confiscated. Police have not identified the owners, who claim the dogs had never been violent to people. Dugger and Davies disagreed, stating they have heard those dogs have attacked people before. Records from San Bernardino County Animal Care and Control show that vicious dogs and bites have been made against the location before, but apparently not about these four pit bulls.

12/26/07: Woman Killed by Pit Bulls
San Bernardino, CA - A pack of pit bulls mauled a woman to death on Christmas evening. About 9:30 pm Tuesday, San Bernardino Sheriff's Department were called to a home in Yermo. They found 45-year old Kelly Caldwell lying in the street. She was transported to a hospital where she later died. Investigators said three pit bulls surrounded and attacked Caldwell, then fled to a nearby home. Deputies shot one dog after it returned to the scene and threatend paramedics.

2007 Dog Bite Fatality: Attack Shows Underbelly of Pit Bull Ownership

Pit Bull Kills Caretaker
Mountain City, GA - Blanche Brodeur, 76-years old, was found face down with severe head and neck injuries on December 17. She was brutally attacked by her son-in-law's pit bull while trying to feed the animal. Brodeur had agreed to take care of five pit bulls belonging to her daughter Joan and husband Thomas Robinson while they were in jail. Both were arrested and jailed 5 days before the fatal attack after a drug raid to their homes on December 12.

When first responders arrived, they could not reach Brodeur's body. The pit bull that killed her was on a rope long enough to reach anyone who tried to help. It took 18 minutes and a phone call to the jailed dog's owner to get permission to shoot the animal so that responders could safely approach the body. Rabun County Sheriff's Investigator Marty Talley noted, however, "I could visually tell there was no sign of life from the damage that was visible."

Before the Fatal Attack

On November 1st, the home of Thomas Robinson on Gates Lane and the home of Joan Robinson on 36 Parker Robinson Lane were raided by drug enforcement officers. Authorities returned on December 12 and arrested both Thomas and Joan. One deputy picked up Thomas at his residence and allowed him to "move his dogs" to Joan's house. Simultaneously, other agents were searching Joan's home where they seized a half-pound of marijuana.

The victim, Blanche Brodeur, had moved into her daughter's home just a few months prior due to an electrical fire that destroyed her trailer on 41 Parker Robinson Lane on September 28. Both Thomas and Joan owned pit bulls, combined equaling five dogs, which all ended up under the care of Brodeur on December 12. Police shot and killed the attacking dog. It is unclear what happened to the other four pit bulls after Brodeur's death.

Enforcement officials should have rules regarding drug raids and pit bulls. Animal control should have seized these animals and taken over ownership at the time of the arrests. Instead, the animals got dumped on Blanche and within a matter of days she was violently killed by one.

2005 Dog Bite Fatality: Victim's Family Sues Animal Control in Spotsylvania

Officers Cleared in Suit
UPDATE 03/06/09: A jury decided against awarding any money to Dorothy Sullivan's beneficiaries in the wrongful death suit filed against county employees. The suit, filed in 2007 against four Spotsylvania County animal control officers, claimed gross negligence by the officers in the time leading up to Sullivan's killing by a pack of pit bulls in March of 2005.

Deanna Large, who owned the dogs, was convicted later that year of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to three years in prison. Large became the first person in Virginia convicted in a case involving a pet killing a person. The criminal case set a legal precedent for the state. On the civil side, however, jurors deliberated for about three hours Thursday before returning a verdict in favor of the defense. In doing so, they denied awarding money to the family.

12/17/07: Dorothy Sullivan's Family Continues in Court
Spotsylvania, VA - The family of a woman fatally mauled by pit bulls in 2005 can continue a $5 million lawsuit against five Spotsylvania County Animal Control employees. Substitute Judge George Tidy ruled in Spotsylvania Circuit Court that the family of Dorothy Sullivan can sue the county "employees" but must drop the county and the Animal Control Department as defendants in its lawsuit. The judge did not explain his decision.

Three pit bulls killed Sullivan, 82, and her pet Shih Tzu, Buttons, in Partlow on March 8, 2005. Deanna Large, 39, who owned the dogs, is serving three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The Virginia Court of Appeals upheld the conviction Oct. 30. Sullivan's estate also believes that Animal Control employees are to blame. The estate charges that the employees created a nuisance by not capturing the dogs, and were negligent in their actions.

Jim H. Guynn, an attorney representing the county, successfully argued that the Animal Control Department is a "creature of an ordinance" that cannot be sued. He also was able to have the county removed from the lawsuit by arguing the shield of sovereign immunity, a doctrine that makes governments immune from lawsuits when performing government duties. He said that counties are considered "arms of the state" and have the same protection.

Thomas E. Albro, who represents Sullivan's family, argued that the defense of sovereign immunity cannot be used if there is negligence. He recounted numerous allegations that Animal Control employees knew the dogs ran loose and had attacked neighbors and killed pets, that the dogs were not licensed and that Large was operating an unlicensed kennel. Albro said Animal Control employees did very little to capture the dogs or punish Large.

Related articles:
11/08/08: Paula Ybarra, Dog Attack Victim, Wins Settlement from Minneapolis
08/23/08: Suing Animal Control Agencies or Municipalities After a Serious Dog Attack