Posted on June 21, 2023 by Colleen Lynn

2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Walking Down a Road in Rockport, Texas Brutally Killed by Multiple Dogs

Rockport Dog Owners Face Second-Degree Felony Charges After Dog Mauling

Lewis Flores, 40, was killed by multiple dogs while walking down a road in Rockport, Texas.

Man Killed by Dogs
Rockport, TX - Early Tuesday, a man was killed by multiple loose dogs in Rockport, Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said. Lewis Flores, 40-years old, was walking in the 1000 block of Monkey Road at about 5:00 am when the dogs attacked. An arriving deputy shot and struck one of the dogs, but the pack then fled. Deputies began administering CPR to Flores. He was taken to a local hospital. The sheriff's office was later advised that he died of injuries sustained by the dogs.

The Rockport Pilot reports that some dogs near the attack scene were taken into custody by animal control and detained by warrants. Police continue to search for additional dogs believed to be involved in the deadly attack. As of 5:00 pm Tuesday, the wounded dog still had not been located. Authorities are asking residents to contact them if they see two roaming dogs believed to be involved in the attack -- one light tan in color, and the other a mixed-breed darker color.

Aransas County Sheriff's Office
June 20,2023 - At approximately 5 am this morning Deputies from the Aransas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a man calling for help in the 1000 Block of San Antonio Street. Upon arrival it was discovered to be on Monkey Road and Deputies moved to that location where a where a male was discovered on the ground being attacked by several dogs. When the Deputy approached, they turned their aggression to the officer who fired and believes he struck one of the dogs. All the animals fled the location and officers began CPR in an effort to revive him EMS made the location and took over the medical attention for the victim. Animal Control as well had been dispatched. Law Enforcement turned their attention to processing the scene gathering items belonging to the victim who was transported by EMS to the local E.R.

The Sheriff’s Office was later advised that Lewis Flores age 40 had died of injuries sustained by the dogs. Animals from that location were taken by Animal Control and detained with warrants. Through out the day Investigators have worked to gather all the evidence we can. Others have attempted to locate the other animals that were involved. As of 5 p.m. the wounded dog has not been located. It is an active investigation and anyone with information is ask to call 361-729-2222 and ask to speak to an investigator. Also if residents in the area of Corpus Christi Street and Monkey Road see two dogs roaming the area light tan in color and one a mixed breed darker color, please call the Dispatch Center so Deputies can attempt to catch them with Animal Control. - Sheriff Bill Mills

KRIS-TV reports that Sheriff Mills has identified who the dog owner is. "We have identified who we believe the owner is. The investigation is still premature," Sheriff Mills said. By 8:00 pm Central Time, KRIS-TV reported that all of the dogs were captured. KIII-TV went to the scene and spoke to the person who called 911. Adrian Arispe, who lives on San Antonio Street, said he called 911 after hearing Flores screaming for help on Monkey Road, the street that lies behind Arispe's home.

Arispe said the dog pack stripped the man naked and left him looking like a shark had eaten him. "He was laying there face down, naked -- all torn up like a shark ate him," Arispe told KIII-TV. "He had his shoes, socks, shirt ripped, and his whole body was just from head to toe diced and sliced," he said. "They were tugging him. All five ways," he said. Arispe hopes the dogs are quickly captured and killed. What Arispe described is a very common scene after a fatal pack attack.

Dog Owner Arrested

On Wednesday afternoon, the dogs' owner, 33-year old Guadalupe Carreon, was arrested and booked into the Aransas County Jail. Carreon has been charged with Attack by Dog Resulting in Death, under the Texas felony dog attack statute § 822.005, which is a second-degree felony. There were three adult dogs and two puppies involved in the fatal attack, Judge Ray Garza told KIII-TV. Family members of the victim have started a GoFundMe to help defray funeral costs.

Flores' brutal death by a pack of loose dogs occurred just three days after Texas governor Greg Abbott vetoed a bi-partisan bill that would have made it easier for animal control departments to investigate dangerous dogs. The bill, known as the "Ramon Najera Act," would have also protected the identity of individuals reporting dangerous dogs to authorities. Ramon Najera, 81-years old, was killed by two pit bulls with a known history of biting in San Antonio in February.

Second Arrest Made

On Thursday, a second person was arrested in connection to Flores' death, Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said in a news release. Mario Alberto Mendoza Pena, 33-years old, was arrested 200 hundred miles away at the McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Pena, a Texas man, had been trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico when an officer matched him with an outstanding warrant from Aransas County.

Pena is also charged with Attack by Dog Resulting in Death. He is currently being held in the Hidalgo County Jail and is expected to be extradited to Aransas County. Online public property records say that Carreon and Pena reside at 1027 San Antonio Street. We call this out because the property has one of the strangest fence lines we have ever seen. It is an "elevated" fence about two feet off the ground, meaning that virtually any sized dog could run underneath it.

Then, if you move in Google Maps to the right, we see the driveway of Arispe's home on the left, his neighbors on the other side of the road standing in their driveway, and the "light tan" pit bull we pointed out earlier from the March 2023 Google Street View. From a prosecution standpoint, this appears to be an open-and-shut case. Carreon and Pena have tall wooden fencing, but it starts about two feet off the ground (this does not appear to be storm water related), and no gate!

Two dogs seen in March 2023 Google Street View near the fatal attack. Both dogs are uncollared. The "light tan" pit bull is at large across the street from Arispe's home on San Antonio Street.

A relative of the victim said Wednesday the dogs involved in the fatal attack were pit bulls.

A commenter on the Rockport Pilot Facebook post published photos of three loose pit bulls.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Baseline reporting requirements:
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.

Posted on June 18, 2023 by Colleen Lynn

2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Pit Bull-Type Dog Kills its Unconscious Owner in Beckley, West Virginia

Robert Showalter, 71, was killed by his pit bull while undergoing a medical emergency.

Man Killed by Own Dog
Beckley, WV - On June 16, WVVA reported that a man was killed by his pit bull a week earlier, while undergoing a medical emergency. Robert Showalter, 71, had been sitting on his porch with a neighbor when he fell unconscious. The neighbor ran next door and called 911. When firefighters and EMS arrived, a pit bull breed dog belonging to Showalter was seen latched onto his throat. They contacted police for back up. The arriving officer shot and killed the dog to stop the attack.

The attack occurred on June 8 in the 100 block of Wilson Street. Beckley police said Showalter was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. His obituary states that he died that afternoon. Fatal attacks inflicted by pit bulls by latching onto a person's neck who is unconscious or undergoing a medical emergency, such as a seizure, have occurred multiple times in the past. We can only add that Beckley firefighters and EMS must have been horrified by what they saw.

No other information was released, and no other media agency investigated the incident. Comments on the WVVA Facebook post were predictable. Though, none addressed that this was an owner-directed fatal attack while the owner was undergoing a medical emergency. Only one similar case we have recorded since 2007 has been carried out by a breed other than a pit bull, a rottweiler. Beckley is a city in and the county seat of Raleigh County in Southern West Virginia.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: West Virginia Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Colleen Lynn

2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Child Killed by Family Dog While Visiting Grandmother's Home in Jeff Davis County, Georgia

Riley Miller was killed by a family dog while visiting his grandmother's home in Jeff Davis County.

Boy Killed by Dog
Denton, GA - On April 19, a child was killed by a family dog while visiting his grandparents' home. The attack occurred just before noon at a home on WH Smith Road in Denton, according to audio dispatch log files from Jeff Davis County Fire. Riley Miller, 1-year old, was attacked by the dog in a playground area set up in the grandparents' yard for their grandchildren, Sheriff Preston Bohannon said. The dog was a family pet that stayed both in the house and the yard, Bohannon said.

“He was just a family pet,” Sheriff Bohannon told the Jeff Davis Ledger. “The kids played with the dog. What triggered him, God only knows.”

When the dog attacked the child, the grandmother got a gun and shot the dog, but the dog fled inside the home, Bohannon said. When deputies and first responders arrived, the dog was still inside the home. Bohannon and another first responder immediately administered CPR to the boy, but it was too late. When Bohannon and the other deputies shifted their attention to the dog, the dog ran out of the house through the front door. Officers were forced to dispatch the animal.

There were no media reports about this fatal dog mauling. The Ledger apparently only became aware of his death two months later. Riley's obituary was first published in April. Bohannon said the dog was a "mixed-breed" with "some bulldog bloodline in him." In Georgia, that translates into a pit bull-mix. The child's mother, who is a dog groomer, posted a cautionary warning about pit bulls on her Facebook page several days after her son's death indicating the dog was a pit bull.

"I know I'm going to have people's opinions about what I'm about to post but you have a pit or any dog for that matter," she wrote. "My mother in-law's pit never showed aggression towards my kids because he's been around them since he was a puppy," she wrote. "I would never have thought I would have to bury my youngest," she said. She also posted in April that she and her husband wanted to become involved in charity awareness against dogs attacking small kids and adults.

Lastly, since Bohannon mentioned a "bulldog bloodline," one grandparent on the paternal side gave away six pit bull puppies back in October 2022. When asked by a potential adopter, "What breed?", the grandmother responded, "mixed gotti razor edge red nose." That is one pit bull bloodline, "Razor Edge Gotti," crossed with a red-nosed pit bull of an unknown bloodline. In some regions in the US, especially the southeast, pit bull owners refer to the dog's bloodline only.

The boy's mother posted a cautionary warning to parents about pit bulls after her son's death.

View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Georgia Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.

Posted on June 7, 2023 by Colleen Lynn

2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Woman Dies After Attack by Daughter's Pit Bull-Mix She was Dog Sitting in Corpus Christi

Rita Vasquez, 58, died after being attacked by her daughter's pit bull-mix while dog sitting.

Woman Dies in Hospital
Corpus Christi, TX - A 58-year old woman is dead after being attacked by a dog she had been watching for her daughter. On May 31, Rita Vasquez picked up the black-and-white pit bull-mix from her daughter's home to dog sit for the day. The attack occurred at about 11:54 am in the backyard of Vasquez's home in the 6500 block of Lyons Street. Joel Skidmore, the Corpus Christi Animal Care Services program manager, said that Vasquez sustained severe injuries in the attack.

"Sadly, the injuries that the victim sustained were categorized as severe," Skidmore said. The dog in question was still in the backyard when animal care services arrived at the scene, he said. They impounded the dog and brought it to the shelter facility for quarantine. "The owner was very cooperative," he said. She surrendered the dog to our agency. "Animal care services humanely euthanized the dog the same day it happened," Skidmore said. The dog tested negative for rabies.

According to Skidmore, the dog did not have a violent history. Skidmore was resourceful when responding to how his agency investigates severe and fatal attacks involving humans and animals, "It's not based on breed," Skidmore told KIII TV. They examine the circumstances about that specific incident. "Everything's looked at as an individual," he said, such as the victim and the dog involved. In this "specific situation, the dog owner is not facing any repercussions," he said.

The Nueces County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined the exact cause of death but has said the bite injuries Vasquez sustained were a contributing factor. Vasquez's obituary states that she leaves behind three daughters. One of them, Roxanne, organized a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral costs. "Our beloved Mother, Rita Maria Vasquez, tragically, suddenly lost her life on June 2, 2023," states the fundraiser. It's unclear which daughter owned the attacking dog.

Skidmore also stated in the KIII TV interview that this was the first fatal human mauling that had occurred during his tenure at Corpus Christi Animal Care Services. Our records show that the last case we recorded in Corpus Christi and Nueces County was the death of a woman also named Rita in 2014. Rita Woodard, 64, was attacked by at least four pit bull-mix dogs she was fostering. Her death was ruled, "critical coronary artery atherosclerosis following multiple dog bites."

Family Comments

Family members spoke to KRIS TV. Though no one witnessed the attack, family members speculate that Vasquez was breaking up a fight between the pit bull-mix she was dog sitting and the two chihuahuas in her home when the pit bull-mix turned on her in a "redirected attack" that resulted in severe injuries and her death. Thus far, no evidence has been presented stating that either of the two chihuahuas sustained injuries in this alleged, pre-cursor dog-on-dog attack.

Dog Sitting Fatalities

Vasquez's death marks the fourth fatal dog mauling since March when the victim was dog sitting at the time. In May, 46-year old Tamieka White, a Marion County sheriff's deputy, was killed at her home while dog sitting a pit bull-mix for a friend. In April, 22-year old Dezmond Trawick was killed at his home while dog sitting four pit bulls belonging to his brother. In March, 38-year old Kristen Potter was killed by a pair of great danes she agreed to feed while their owner was away.

View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.

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Rockport Dog Owners Face Second-Degree Felony Charges After Dog Mauling