A few vicious pit bulls with a history of violence beat their 73-year-old neighbor to her garden beds after the police discovered that the animals were exposed to the cocaine of their owner.
The police of Ohio responded to reports of a complaint from Dieren on September 30 and found Adam Withers high on cocaine and haunting his dogs in Ashville, about 20 miles south of Columbus, according to an arrest statement.
Witers confessed that they used the medicine and told agents that his dogs were in his garage with him when he smoked it.
One of the dogs was seen who dragged his hind legs and the police believed that both were exposed to cocaine, but the authorities never removed them from the house.
On October 17, the two dogs escaped the house again and led to their neighbor, Jo Ann Echelbarger while she was gardening.
Echelbarger suffered a broken neck and the dogs tore off her ear, most of her scalp and her right thumb.
She had bite traces all over her body, according to an autopsy report.
Continue with the violent anger, one of the dogs ran into the street and attacked another woman and her two Goldendoodles.
On October 17, two dogs escaped from their owners' house and led them to their neighbor, Jo Ann Echelbarger, while she was gardening
One of the owners of the dogs, Adam Withers, here on a photo on his Facebook account
Jo Ann Echelbarger suffered a broken neck and the dogs tore off her ear, most of her scalp, and her right thumb in the fatal attack
The woman and one of her dogs escaped, but the second puppy fell victim to the violent attack.
When the Ashville police arrived, one of the pit bulls accused an officer and the agent fired his gun and killed it.
Officers found the other dog at the stage and also opened the fire, killing the animal.
Body camera images showed the moment the police responded to the horrible scene and shot the dogs.
A day after the brutal attack, Wither's Eeltig posted a photo of a pit bull on his Facebook account with text reading: “People are the problem.”
Witers and his mother, Susan Withers, were sued in November for involuntary manslaughter times due to the death of Echelbarger.
Last month a jury found the two guilty about the crime, but the victim's family did not think it was enough.
The children of Echelbarger submitted an unlawful death procedure against the district dog Director, Adam and Susan Withers, and the Condominium Association where the deadly attack took place on Wednesday.
Adam Withers and his mother, Susan, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in November
A day after the brutal attack, Adam Withers Eeltig posted a photo of a pit bull on his Facebook account with text reading: 'People are the problem'
A photo of the Facebook account from Adam Withers with two dogs
“She didn't earn this. She was tortured and she suffered, ” Echelbarger's daughter, Earlene Romine, told, WSYX News. 'This is not what you expect your parent to go through. This is not what you expect to happen to someone you love. '
The son of Echelbarger, Bill Rogers, said that he considered the wilt family members as 'villains' and blamed them for killing his mother.
Romine also said that after the death of their mother the death of their mother, Adam Witers was immediately hostile to the family and one of the dog's dead bodies was walking around for the neighborhood to see.
“He carried it out, annoyed it, knocked on the light post to attract everyone's attention,” she said.
The children of Echelbarger believe that red flags were ignored in the weeks prior to the death of their mother who should have led to the dogs removed from the house.
The lawsuit quotes the cocaine incident and body camera images that show the police that the 'dog keeper will not come'.
According to Ohio's law, dog guards have the right to grab a dog if they believe that they are 'being treated inhumane'.
The lawsuit claims that suspicion of casual drying grounds would be to argue inhumane treatment.
“I feel that they were gambling with many people that day, and she was the one who paid the price,” said Rogers.
He added that it was 'reckless' and 'terrible' to keep the pit bulls at the Witers Home after the incident.
Adam Wither and his mother, Susan, are still waiting for conviction in prison
Echelbarger died in the hospital after storing brutal injuries due to the dog attack
The family said they did not hear from the director and never offered condolences after their mother had been tragically murdered.
The shocking cocaine incident was not the only time the Withers were accused of negligent owners of pets.
The Condominium Association had ordered the dogs to be removed from the house in December 2023 and had obtained a judicial order in April to force the family to do this when they did not take.
The association was busy placing a mining order against the Witers family when Echelbarger was killed.
The family's lawyer, Rex Elliot, argued that the association should have contacted the police earlier to have the pit bulls removed.
The unlawful death suit requires $ 25,000 while Adam and Susan Withers are waiting for conviction.
