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1. Home » 
2. Dog bite statistics » 
3. Dog bite fatalities » 
4. 2010

2010 dog bite fatalities ::

Statistical information gathered by DogsBite.org is verifiable through news reports and other criteria.1 Our Fatality Citations section documents sources used in our dog bite fatality research.

2010 dog bite fatality statistics2

2010 U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities by Breed

2010 fatal dog attacks by breed

In 2010, 2 dog bite fatalities involved canines from 2 or more different breeds, thus producing a death count total of 37 rather than 34. Five dog breeds each contributed to 1 death: American bulldog, boxer, bullmastiff-mix, husky and a wolf-dog hybrid. In one case involving several dogs, the breed information was unknown or unreleased.

2010 analysis and 6-year period summary

• 34 U.S. dog bite-related fatalities occurred in 2010. Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 600 U.S. cities, pit bulls contributed to 65% (22) of these deaths. Pit bulls make up about 5% of the total U.S. dog population.3
• In 2010, the combination of pit bulls (22) and rottweilers (4) accounted for 76% of the attacks resulting in human death. This same combination accounted for 73% (133) of the total recorded deaths (183) during the 6-year period of 2005 to 2010.
• The breakdown between these two breeds is substantial over this 6-year period. From 2005 to 2010, pit bulls killed 107 Americans, about one citizen every 20.5 days, versus rottweilers, which killed 26, about one citizen every 84 days.
• 2010 data shows that 59% (20) of the attacks involved children 9-years and younger and 41% (14) involved adults, 19-years and older. Of the child victims, 75% (15) were ages 4 and younger; and within this same subset, 60% (9) were male.
• 35% (12) of all fatalities in 2010 involved more than one dog; 15% (5) involved a pack attack of four or more dogs; 32% (11) involved breeding on the dog owner's property either actively or in the recent past, and 9% (3) involved chained dogs.
• In 2010, dog ownership information shows that family dogs carried out 68% (23) of attacks that resulted in human death. 85% (29) of all deadly dog attacks occurred on the dog owner's property and 15% (5) occurred off the owner's property.
• 12% (4) of all dog bite fatalities resulted in criminal charges; 50% (2) of these cases involved pit bulls. California filed criminal charges in 2 dog bite fatality deaths in 2010. Michigan and Tennessee each filed criminal charges after 1 death.
• The state of California had the most dog bite-related fatalities (7). Pit bulls contributed to 86% (6) of these deaths. Florida followed with 3 deaths and Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas each incurred 2 deaths.

2010 dog bite fatality victims

Omar Martinez

3-years old | Apple Valley, California

Omar Martinez, 3-years old, was killed by his family's pet pit bull. The toddler was bitten on the throat by the dog in the backyard after his father briefly stepped away. According to Art Bishop, a deputy chief with the Apple Valley Fire Protection District, when firefighters arrived, the pit bull, covered in blood, came out and started to attack them. Paramedics were forced to retreat to their vehicles until deputies arrived. Upon arriving, a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy shot the dog dead. Rescuers were able to administer CPR as they rushed the boy to St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley. Martinez was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Investigators concluded that there was no evidence of negligence and that the boy's death was a "misfortunate incident." [source citations]

Johnny Wilson

56-years old | Chicago, Illinois

Johnny Wilson, 56-years old, was mauled to death by his daughter's six pit bulls. The daughter, who was reportedly breeding and selling the dogs, told authorities that she came home and found her father lying on the living room floor covered in blood. It was reported that Wilson suffered severe head trauma, including having both his ears bitten off and at least one of his eyes mauled. An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner’s office showed that Wilson died of hemorrhaging from multiple injuries from a dog attack. His death was ruled as accidental. Authorities seized four adult pit bulls and two puppies from the home. There was no history of mistreatment to the dogs and neighbors say Wilson had never seemed to have any problems with the dogs in the past. [source citations]

Anastasia Bingham

5-years old | Terry, Mississippi

Anastasia Bingham, 5-years old, was mauled to death by a pit bull while playing in the snow. On a morning when she should have been at school (cancelled due to snow), she instead suffered death by the powerful jaws of a pit bull. The suspected pit bull had previously been chained along with others at a neighbor's home. Officials said the dog also showed indications of dogfighting. A Hinds County Grand Jury later determined there was not enough evidence to indict anyone in connection to her death. DNA testing on the suspected pit bull showed that it did not attack the girl. DNA testing on a different pit bull -- found dead near the scene -- proved inconclusive. Investigators said they received confidential tips that stated there were three other pit bulls, owned by the child's relatives, that were killed and dumped in a wooded area off Saw Mill Road after the girl's death. [source citations]

Robert Hocker

11-days old | Independence, Minnesota

Robert Hocker, 11-days old, was killed by his family's husky dog after being bitten on the head. According to West Hennepin Public Safety (WHPS) Director Ray McCoy, "The infant boy was in his car seat on a bed in the bedroom, when he was bitten by the family Siberian husky." Emergency personnel "exhausted all life-saving measures, and the infant was pronounced dead at the scene," McCoy said. The 71-pound husky, named Dealer, was taken from the home by the Wright County Humane Society and euthanized after the 10-day quarantine period. McCoy said his department, which patrols Independence and Maple Plain, had responded to "numerous" calls to the home in the past, but for "nothing that would be more than just a nuisance violation." Authorities announced in June that they would not pursue charges against the child's mother. [source citations]

Christine Staab

37-years old | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Christine Staab, 37-years old, was mauled to death by one of her mother's six pit bulls. The victim had gone to her mother's home early that morning and the two reportedly had an argument, which set the dog, named Jade, off. The pit bull latched onto Christine's throat, killing her. The dog did not let go of the victim until being shot to death by Philadelphia police officers (a second pit bull was also shot dead at the scene). Christine's stepfather, Thomas Fowler, and mother, Barbara Erb, defended their pet pit bulls on local news stations. Erb described the six pit bulls as "house dogs" that were well cared for and even microchipped for identification. "They were spoiled rotten," Erb said. "They were not neglected in any way." Both Fowler and Erb pleaded with authorities to have the remaining four pit bulls seized by authorities returned to them. [source citations]

Violet Serenity Haaker

3-years old | Ocala, Florida

Violet Haaker, 3-years old, was killed by her mother's prize breeding dog, a Scott type American bulldog (a pit bull-mix). The mother, Lori Haaker, kept four American bulldogs chained to separate trees inside of a pen. The little girl slipped into the pen when Lori briefly stepped into the house. Violet became entangled in the dog's chain and was bitten to death. The property, demarked by signage reading "Haaker's Dream Bulldog Ranch," was anything but a dream when emergency personnel arrived in hopes of saving the child. Officials described the scene as "a bad dog attack." Violet was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities seized all four dogs and later euthanized them. The Department of Child and Family Services is currently investigating Violet's parents. In 2007, Marion County officials had investigated the Haaker's for operating an illegal kennel. At that time, "mysteriously" no dogs were found on the property. [source citations]

"Baby Doe" Garrett

5-days old | Conyers, Georgia

Jane Doe, 5-days old, was killed by the family pit bull. According to a Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office press release, the mother of the 5-day old baby girl heard the infant crying and found the pet pit bull on top of the baby’s bassinet. The bitten infant was taken to Rockdale Medical Center then airlifted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston for surgery. The infant was listed in critical condition and died five days later, February 23, from the injuries. Following the incident, Dr. Mark Wulkan, Children's Healthcare surgeon in chief and an associate professor at Emory, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "There's no place for pit bulls or rottweilers around children." He added that as far as children are concerned, pit bulls and rottweilers in particular are responsible for the most severe injuries. "With German shepherds, they bite you and then that's it," Wulkan said. "Pit bulls and rottweilers, once they go, they're going for the kill." [source citations]

Ashlynn Anderson

4-years old | Svensen, Oregon

Ashlynn Anderson, 4-years old, was mauled to death by one of her stepfather's rottweilers. Four months prior to her death, authorities removed a third rottweiler from the family's home after it bit an adult family member. Sheriff Tom Bergin said the girl's mother, D'ette Browning, was the first to realize something was wrong. "This mom just happened to look out and saw the dog and the child laying there," Bergin said. The two-and-a-half-year old female rottweiler, named Cornelia, apparently just "snapped." The animal was usually fenced in a nearby area; it remains unclear how the rottweiler got out. Ashlynn was flown to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where she was pronounced dead. The Browning family is well known in the Astoria area. Ashlynn's stepfather, Jesse Browning, stars on The History Channel's "Ax Men." The show portrays the lives of loggers across the United States. [source citations]

Ethel Horton

65-years old | Lucknow, South Carolina

Ethel Horton, 65-years old, was attacked by a pit bull while trying to beat the dog off her husband. According to the Lee County Coroner, Horton suffered severe injuries in the attack as well as undergoing a heart attack. She was pronounced dead on scene. Her husband, Jerry Horton, was rushed to Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. At the time of the attack, Ethel and her husband were dog-sitting their nephew's 10-year old pit bull named Brutus while he was out of town. Their nephew lived next door; the pit bull had been tied to a 15-foot chain attached to a stake in the ground in his backyard. The dog grew agitated when Jerry began feeding six beagles and two huskies that were also being kept nearby. As he was feeding the dogs, the pit bull broke free from its chain and attacked him. Ethel tried to fight the dog off with a plastic pipe when the dog turned on her and mauled her. [source citations]

Justin Lopez

9-months old | Lincoln County, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Oklahoma

Justin Lopez, 9-months old, was killed by two rottweilers his family had brought home one day earlier. The attack occurred in a hallway outside a bedroom where the baby and his 2-year old brother had been sleeping with their father. It is not known how Justin got out of his crib. A source close to the family said the children’s grandfather came to visit the family that morning and discovered the baby shortly before 11 am. The baby’s father was still sleeping when he arrived. The infant was pronounced dead on scene. Justin's mother, Stephanie Easley, was at work at the time of the fatal attack. Easley was later taken to Stillwater Medical Center to be treated for emotional distress and shock. Both rottweilers, a male and female, were killed. [source citations]

Thomas Carter Jr.

7-days old | New Port Richey, Florida

Thomas Carter Jr., 7-days old, was killed by his parent's pit bull-mix while sleeping beside his mother. The baby's father had already left for work. Jackie Welch, 32, spent the previous night with the baby's parents. Welch's brother and his girlfriend also lived at the couple's Moon Lake mobile home with their pit bull, named Buddy. According to Welch, at 11:45 am she answered the door and let one of the mother's friend's inside. After the friend knocked on the mother's bedroom door, waking her up, she saw her bloody baby. "She started screaming, 'My baby! My baby!,'" said Welch. Their pit bull-mix named Sidon had been locked in the bedroom with the mother and baby over night. As the 911 call was placed, Welch gave the infant CPR, but it was too late. During the chaos, Sidon also attacked Buddy, who was reportedly chained in the backyard. Sidon had a history of aggression. [source citations]

Krystal Brink

3-years old | Native Village of Napaskiak - Napaskiak, Alaska

Krystal Brink, 3-years old, was mauled to death by a chained sled dog after she wandered into a neighbor's yard. Krystal Brink of Kasigluk had been visiting relatives in Napaskiak at the time of the incident. She and some other children had been playing outside that afternoon. When adults called them in at about 5 pm, they discovered that Brink was missing. Her uncle, Fritz Larson, found her body in a sled dog yard at a nearby home. He described the chained dog as a "young male mutt." Krystal had been bitten on the face and head. After Larson brought the dead child home, his brother Joe Larson grabbed a shotgun and killed all six adult dogs in the yard. Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said, "It was a pretty emotional situation." The owner of the sled dogs, Raymond Steven, told troopers he did not want to press charges. [source citations]

Nathan Aguirre

2-years old | San Bernardino, California

Nathan Aguirre, 2-years old, was fatally mauled by the family's pit bull. At the time of the incident, the boy had been riding his tricycle and playing with his father in the family's fenced-in yard. When his father stepped away briefly, the mother, who was in the house, came out to check on the child. She found the boy in the pit bull's mouth. The mother screamed and the dog dropped the injured child. Nathan was rushed to Loma Linda University Medical Center and underwent immediate surgery. He was pronounced dead about 6 hours later. The one-and-a-half-year old male pit bull, who had been with the family for about 3-months, was seized along with another family pit bull that was not involved in the attack. While on the scene, reporters noted that a sticker for Atomic Dogg, a magazine for pit bull aficionados, was pasted on the family's front window. [source citations]

Savannah Gragg

9-years old | Kokomo, Indiana

Savannah Gragg, 9-years old, was severely mauled by the family pit bull as she opened the door to let the dog out. Instead of going outside, the animal jumped on the girl knocking her to the ground, bit into her neck and "shook violently," according to the Howard County Sheriff's Department. Savannah's grandmother witnessed the attack and managed to free the child. Deputy John Cipriano responded to the scene. He reported the girl was unconscious and unresponsive and had stopped breathing twice before medics arrived. Cipriano performed CPR and restored her breathing. Savannah was rushed to Howard Regional Health System then airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. She survived 5 days before succumbing to the deadly trachea injuries inflicted by the dog. The owner of the dog was not named. News reports indicate that her grandmother and parents were home during the incident. [source citations]

Michael Winters

30-years old | Henrietta Township, Ohio

Michael Winters, 30-years old, was savagely killed by a pack of dogs that his father kept fenced on his property. Over the years, his father had been rescuing and caring for stray and unwanted dogs. Nine dogs were outside during the attack: 5 bullmastiff-mixes, 3 pit bull-mixes and a rottweiler-mix. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Paul Matus said the victim had hundreds of bites wounds covering his body. The victim's father, Michael Kywa, had been gone for about an hour when he returned to find his son's badly injured body in the driveway. He managed to coral seven of the dogs. When sheriff's deputies arrived, they shot and killed the other two. A vet later tranquilized and euthanized the remaining dogs. Lorain County Dog Warden Jack Szlempa Sr. said his office had visited the home about a year-and-a-half ago after several dogs attacked another dog. [source citations]

Kyle Holland

5-years old | Lincoln Park, Michigan

Kyle Holland, 5-years old, was horrifically attacked and killed by a dog while living with his mother. The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the child’s death a homicide "due to multiple crush wounds due to multiple dog bites." Police seized both dogs in the home, which belonged to the mother's boyfriend, a husky-type and a Labrador retriever-mix. Lincoln Park Animal Control had previously relinquished the husky-type dog to the boyfriend after a loose dog offense under a "good-faith" assumption that he would take the dog, suspected to be a wolf-dog hybrid, out of state. Michigan prohibits wolf-dog hybrids. The boyfriend did not comply.

In late June 2011, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office charged Kyle's mother, Debralynn Holland, with multiple felony charges, including manslaughter and second-degree child abuse. The mother's boyfriend, Earl Adkins, was also charged with felony offenses, including one count of dangerous animal death. During the preliminary examination, prosecutors put fort the case that the dog was a "wolf hybrid used for protection." According to Adkins' defense attorney, however, DNA and other lab tests were not conclusive about the dog's breed. Both Holland and Adkins later pleaded guilty to all charges averting further investigation and a trial. [source citations]

William Parker

71-years old | Memphis, Tennessee

William Parker, 71-years old, was on his way to a nearby store when two pit bulls brutally attacked him. Parker's daughter, Gardenia, found her father still being attacked, "When I got there, the dog had already tore both his legs to pieces. No skin, just bones there," she said. Parker was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and died shortly thereafter. About 30 minutes earlier, the same pit bulls attacked Kevin Stringfellow. Just two days earlier, police received a vicious dog call about these dogs, but by the time they arrived, their owner, Bernard Humphrey, had secured the dogs. Police arrested Humphrey on an unrelated charge and took him into custody, leaving the dogs behind. Two days later, Sherry Wooten released the dogs, setting off the events that led to Parker's death and the injury of four others. Wooten is charged with Reckless Homicide and four counts of Felony Reckless Endangerment. [source citations]

Jacob Bisbee

2-years old | Concord, California

Jacob Bisbee, 2-years old, was mauled to death by his step-grandfather's three pit bull-mix dogs. Police said the dogs attacked the boy when he walked into the garage. The victim's grandmother and uncle were in the house at the time, as was the boy's brother. The dogs' owner, Steven Hayashi, was not home during the incident. Within hours, authorities arrested Hayashi on suspicion of child endangerment and owning a mischievous animal that causes great bodily injury or death. The three attacking dogs were seized along with two more that Hayashi kept in his yard. The next day, from a jailhouse interview, Hayashi admitted that one of the dogs had killed his pet Chihuahua a year earlier. But he said he never believed his dogs would attack Jacob. He also said that he ended up with 5 pit bull-mixes because the female dog he adopted from a Lake County animal shelter was pregnant. In April 2014, Hayashi was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and two other felonies in connection to Jacob's death. [source citations]

Aaron Carlson

2-years old | San Diego, California

Aaron Carlson, 2-years old, was mauled to death in an upstairs room by the family dog while his mother was sleeping on a couch downstairs. Carlson was killed in front of his three siblings, a 3-year old brother and two sisters ages 5 and 7. An autopsy confirmed the boy died of mauling injuries to his head and neck. The dog, a rescued German shepherd-mix, was about one-and-a-half years old and had been living with the family for about 6 months. The Carlson family lives in a military housing complex. At the time of the attack, Carlson's father, a Navy serviceman, was deployed overseas. San Diego County Animal Services euthanized the dog after the incident. Though police did not initially seek charges against the mother, Valerie Carlson, Child Protective Services took the remaining children into custody on a "temporary basis." Nine months later, police arrested Carlson and charged her with multiple felony counts of cruelty to a child with possible injury or death. The remaining three children now live with their father. [source citations]

Tracey Payne

46-years old | Macon, Georgia

Tracey Payne, 46-years old, was mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls left abandoned at a home after its owners moved out two weeks earlier. An anonymous caller tipped off authorities at 2 pm that day. Payne's body was later found in the bushes in the backyard of a home at 1284 Glendale Avenue, according to police reports. Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones determined that Payne had been dead 6 to 8 hours prior to being discovered and that her death was the result of blunt force trauma and lacerations from the dog attack. One night earlier, the same pit bulls attacked and severely injured Kerry Whisby, 30, who walked by the vacant home. A passing vehicle urged Whisby to climb atop the car's roof and ride away. Neighbor Kristia Hargrove knew about two other biting incidents by the pit bulls before the attacks on Whisby and Payne. Neither she nor the victims, however, called police or animal control to report the attacks. [source citations]

Jerry Yates

69-years old | Mountain Ranch, California

Jerry Yates, 69-years old, was mauled to death by two pit bulls owned by Sheryl Sellers, a friend of Yates' family and a tenant living on his property. Jerry's son discovered the gruesome scene -- his father horribly bitten, bloody and dead -- but he first had to contend with the pit bulls that tried to attack him. The coroner said the dogs continued biting Yates even after he died. Investigators immediately arrested Sellers and charged her for allowing vicious animals at large. Authorities later upped the charge to a felony for knowingly having a mischievous animal that caused human death. Seven months later, during a preliminary hearing, Calaveras Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Smith dismissed the felony charges under the bizarre rationale that what precipitated the fatal dog attack lacked a witness. Yates was a longtime businessman and philanthropist of Mountain Ranch and a Vietnam Vet. Members of the small community were devastated by his death then horrified by Judge Smith's ruling. [source citations]

Jason Walter

7-years old | Marshall County, Illinois

Jason Walter, 7-years old, was attacked and killed by up to four dogs while in the gravel driveway of the Eric Shanklin farm. The boy's mother was in a relationship with Shanklin and the two had spent the night at his farm. One of the dogs, a shepherd-mix, belonged to Shanklin. The other three dogs, all pit bulls, belonged to a rental tenant on his property, Karen Brady, who had moved in a few months earlier. No one witnessed the deadly attack. After the boy's death, a cable installer and mechanic reported that they had been menaced but not bitten by at least one of Brady's pit bulls in the past. To avoid any possible conflict of interest, Marshall County State's Attorney General Paul Bauer referred the case to the Illinois Attorney General's Office. In 1995, while Bauer was in private practice, he represented Brady, who then had a different last name, Karen Schoepke, in a drunk-driving case and won an acquittal at trial. No criminal charges were ever filed in connection to Jason's mauling death. [source citations]

Taylor Becker

4-years old | Hubbard Township, Wisconsin

Taylor Becker, 4-years old, was brutally attacked and killed by a dog while visiting the home of Steven and Stefanie Beauprey. The two families knew each other and the girl had been to the home before. A neighbor, Troy Erickson, witnessed part of the deadly attack, which he described as "the dog chewing on her and dragging her around." Taylor was taken to Beaver Dam Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The dog, a 5-year old male boxer, had been chained to a post in the backyard of the Beauprey home with a length that permitted access to the little girl. Before or during the fatal attack, the animal slipped out of its collar. It is later learned, that though the Beaupreys said the dog had not demonstrated aggression before, the family had only had the animal for 3 to 4 months. At the time of the fatal dog attack, there were also five puppies sired by the dog inside the Beauprey home. [source citations]

Mattie Daugherty

85-years old | Etowah, Tennessee

Mattie Daugherty, 85-years old, was killed by her daughter's pit bull. The woman had owned the dog for nine years without any previous incidents. The attack occurred while family members were outside working in the yard. Construction was also being done to the home's roof. Mattie left the group to check on the dog that was inside the home and never made it out alive. One report said the pit bull lived outside the home and "the elderly woman was not used to being around the pet." But friends of the family, Dale and Laverne Holbrook, said the pit bull was a big part of the Daugherty family. They said the dog "even had its own room in the house." Prior to police arriving, a neighbor shot the pit bull, but it took gunfire from two deputies to finally kill the dog. Afterward, family members said the "noise" from the roof work must have caused the attack. [source citations]

Reverend John Reynolds

84-years old | Williamsburg, Missouri

Reverend John Reynolds, 84-years old, was discovered severely bitten and dead in a pit bull pen that his son used to house 17 pit bulls. His son, also named John Reynolds, 52, bred and raised pit bulls on his father's property and also lived at his father's home near Williamsburg. Reynolds told authorities that he did not believe his pit bulls killed his father. He described the dogs as his dad's "best buddies." He said that a stray dog or a mountain lion was the real culprit. Rex Martin, a field specialist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, was called upon to examine the severe bite injuries. He told sheriff officials, "there is no way that those bite marks and injuries to the victim were caused by a mountain lion." After the deadly dog attack, Calloway County officials left the 6 adult pit bulls and 11 pit bull puppies with Reynolds because they did not have the resources to manage so many animals. [source citations]

Justin Valentin

4-days old | Jacksonville, Florida

Justin Valentin, 4-days old, was attacked by the family pit bull after his mother left him on the bed to take a shower. The infant was rushed to Shands Hospital, but did not survive. Two days after the infant's death, Mark Valentin, the child's father, told News 4 Ajax, "I don't know what happened. My wife went to the restroom and the dog got to the baby. We're not neglectful parents." Valentin also supplied a photo to the news group depicting the newborn in his arm next to his 4-year old child, the pit bull and another family member. The father described the dog as "very loving" and that he had raised the young pit bull since it was a puppy. Officers with animal care who picked up the animal, however, painted a different picture, saying that the male pit bull, named Briggs, was "extremely aggressive" with them. The dog was later euthanized at the owner's request. Shortly after the incident, police and Florida Department of Children and Families officials began an investigation into the parents. [source citations]

Christina Casey

53-years old | Moreno Valley, California

Christina Casey, 53-years old, was savagely killed by her neighbor's two dogs in the backyard of her own home. According to a Moreno Valley Police Department news release, it was determined that the victim sustained "multiple dog bites that ultimately lead to her death." The release added that a forensic dentist confirmed that the two large pit bull-mix dogs owned by nearby neighbors were responsible for the bites. The victim's brother, Bill Casey, said that his sister was in the process of moving, "the dogs being one of the reasons." He told the Riverside Press-Enterprise, "In two more days, she'd have been completely out of there. Then who knows? It might have been someone else." Casey said that Christina had previously complained to him, city animal control officials and to the owner about the dogs. Casey later filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Moreno for not preventing the deadly attack. [source citations]

Shirley Bird

79-years old | Ida Grove, Iowa

Shirley Bird, 79-years old, was killed by her 5-year old German shepherd. Authorities responded to her home on Moorehead Street after being notified by her nephew who had been unable to contact Bird for several days. Arriving deputies discovered Bird deceased in the bathtub. The victim had several bite marks including one deep wound on her arm, Ida County Sheriff Wade Harriman said. An autopsy conducted by the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office determined that she died from blood loss. According to Harriman, Bird was on a blood thinner and believed it contributed to her death, saying it would have been difficult for her blood to clot after being bitten. Family members said that Bird had a hard time controlling the dog and previously suffered bite and scratch marks, Harriman said. "It was a pretty aggressive dog," Harriman said. "It wouldn't let anyone in the house when she wasn't there." [source citations]

Kaden Muckleroy

2-years old | Henderson, Texas

Kaden Muckleroy, 2-years old, was mauled to death by his grandfather's pit bull. The dog had formerly belonged to the boy's father who was murdered in Longview last year. The grandfather, Kelvin Muckleroy, had taken in the pit bull to remind him of his son. Sheriff's officials said the dog was chained to a tree near a swing set the boy was playing on. When the child's mother briefly stepped away, the pit bull broke free of the chain and fatally attacked the boy. Muckleroy surrendered the pit bull to authorities along with nearly 40 other dogs he had been keeping on his property. Ronnie Whittington, Henderson Animal Shelter supervisor, said one-third to half of the dogs were pit bulls or pit bull-mixes. She described Muckleroy as an animal hoarder, not someone breeding fighting dogs. After the boy's death, Muckleroy climbed into his pickup truck and plowed through the many dog pens in his yard, demolishing them. [source citations]

Cason Bryant

5-years old | Phenix City, Alabama

Cason Bryant, 5-years old, was mauled to death by a pack of mixed-breed dogs that escaped their owner's property. Russell County Sheriff-Elect Heath Taylor said 5 of the 12 dogs participated in the attack that resulted in the boy's death. Reports said the boy was on his property, or the road just in front, when 11 dogs owned by a neighbor "slipped under the fence" and attacked Cason's pet dog. Taylor said the "boy was in the wrong place at the wrong time," when he tried to break up the ensuing dog fight. Next-door neighbor Carlton Brown was home at the time of the fatal attack. He heard screams from inside his house. He rushed outside and found the boy stripped naked with bite marks -- the dogs had torn off all of his clothes. He and several others performed CPR on the boy, but it was too late. Authorities declined to press charges and the dogs' owner was never named. All 12 dogs were put down. [source citations]

Justin Lane

25-years old | Latta, South Carolina

Justin Lane, 25-years old, was discovered bloody and dead on a couch in a home he shared with his mother on Skillet Drive. The Dillon County Sheriff's Office determined that Lane's one and a half-year-old pit bull, named Smoke, fatally attacked him. Neighbors told CarolinaLive.com that the dog usually stayed outside chained up. Due to bad weather on the evening of November 15, Lane brought the pit bull inside. The dog attacked and killed him later that same night. According to a few of Lane's close friends, he got the dog when it was about 6-weeks old and the dog had never harmed anyone before. Two weeks after Lane's death, the family agreed to put the dog down. The family also told police they had not had any previous problems with the dog. [source citations]

Edward Mitchell

67-years old | Murrieta, California

Edward Mitchell, 67-years old, was brutally attacked by his nephew's pit bull in the backyard of the family's home. First responders described finding "flesh and blood all over the patio" when they arrived on scene. Mitchell had been alone with the dog, named Shadow, and the two family chihuahuas when the incident occurred. He had reportedly been "disciplining" the dog when it attacked and nearly killed him. The pit bull severely mauled his arm, throat and groin. Mitchell was rushed to intensive care. Officers subdued the 1.5-year old unneutered male pit bull with two tranquilizer darts. The unnamed nephew, in his 20s, turned the dog over to be euthanized. On December 5, nearly two months after the attack, Mitchell succumbed to his injuries and died. The Riverside County coroner's office said that Mitchell died from "complications of his injuries after being attacked by the family's pit bull." No other information was released. [source citations]

Larry Armstrong

55-years old | Sundance, Navajo Nation, New Mexico

Larry Armstrong, 55-years old, was mauled to death by a pack of dogs on December 8. The Office of the Medical Investigator did not release a report confirming his death being "due to dog bites" until the following year. The attack occurred in the small community of Sundance, on Navajo Nation land near Gallup, New Mexico. McKinley County deputies found Armstrong lying unconscious along the side of a road with the dogs mauling him. They had to pepper spay the animals to keep them away while EMTs attended to the victim. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The Office of the Medical Investigator determined that dog bites killed Armstrong, and that he may have suffered a seizure before the attack, rendering him unconscious when the mauling began. As of April 26, 2011, authorities know who the offending dogs are and have sent out samples for analysis. A complaint might be filed against the dogs' owners. [source citations]

Jeannette Vaughn

3-months old | Harris County, Texas

Jeannette Vaughn, 3-months old, was killed by one of nine dogs kept at her family's home. At the time of the incident, the mother was washing one rottweiler, reportedly 200 lbs in size, in the bathroom, while the infant was in a baby swing in the living room. The other dogs were in the backyard. The baby's mother, Alva Vaughn, thought she had secured the back door by pushing a washing machine and slab of marble in front of it. One rottweiler, however, pushed its way through the back door and mauled the baby. When Vaughn heard another dog barking in the house, she rushed out to the living room and found the baby lifeless on the floor. The infant’s hands were mangled and her head was crushed, Harris County Sheriff’s homicide sergeant Felipe Rivera said. The baby's father admitted that two of the family's dogs were kept away from the baby. The Harris County Sheriff's Office referred the case to a grand jury without charges. [source citations]

Excluded victims

Deaths involving minor dog bite injury, dog-related caused injury (killed by a car while fleeing a dog) and cases that lacked a "reasonably clear" determination of death after dog bite injury are not included in our fatality statistical data. Deaths involving fatal non-bite injury (struck by dog death) or deaths due to untreated severe dog bites (sepsis) may be added to our data at a future time.

• 02/07/10: Carolyn Baker, 63-years old (Cleveland heights, OH)
• 02/19/10: Kenneth Bock, adult male (Snohomish County, WA)
• 10/05/10: Miracle Parham, 14-years old (McDonough, GA)
• 11/25/10: Richard Martratt, 64-years old (Van Zandt County, TX)
• 12/05/10: Anna Smith Brown, 68-years old (Wilmington, NC)

Struck by dog deaths - fatal non-bite injury

• 08/05/10: Anna Beth Grotzky, 87-years old (Boulder, CO)
• 06/03/10: Hao Yun "Eddie" Lin, 33-years old (Oceanside, CA)

Post-mortem animal predation

• 01/26/10: Eugene Alexander, 43-years old (Liberty, OH)
• 07/29/10: Wilma Hurst, 61-years old (Tazewell, TN)

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Fatal Pit Bull Attacks: A growing archive of U.S. fatal pit bull maulings dating back to 1833. Maintained by DogsBite.org.