An Ohio grandmother was viciously mauled to death by a pair of “savage” pit bulls last year while she was gardening, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The pit bulls reportedly had cocaine in their systems at the time of the deadly dog attack.
Jo Ann Echelbarger, 73, was killed by the pit bulls on Oct. 17. The fatal dog attack took place at the Reserve at Ashton Village — a residential complex in Ashville.
‘This case involves the most vicious and savage dog mauling in the history of the state of Ohio and perhaps beyond.’
According to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Echelbarger’s family on March 13, the pit bulls “ran around the Reserve’s common areas, eventually attacking Jo Ann while she was peacefully gardening.”
Echelbarger reportedly was dismembered in the grisly attack.
The elderly woman’s 84-year-old husband — who is suffering from Parkinson’s and dementia and uses a wheelchair — was not able to help his wife and witnessed the vicious mauling from inside a screened-in porch.
Echelbarger was rushed to the hospital, where she died later that day. Her husband’s health reportedly has deteriorated since his wife’s death, and he’s now in hospice care.
The lawsuit notes that even after responding police officers shot one of the dogs, the animal returned to attack Echelbarger.
Ashville Police Department officers and county sheriff’s deputies ultimately shot and killed the pit bulls.
What’s more, medical reports found that the pit bulls had cocaine in their systems at the time of the “gruesome” dog attack, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
‘How do you not look at them as a villain responsible for killing your mom?’
The owners of the dogs — Adam Withers and his mother, Susan Withers — in February were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter as well as failure to confine and control vicious dogs.
Adam Withers also was arrested for disorderly conduct weeks before the fatal dog attack. Police reportedly said he was acting erratically and his two dogs were running loose in the condo complex.
On Sept. 27, 2024, officers with the Ashville Police Department encountered Withers and his two dogs — who appeared impaired and couldn’t stand up.
Withers allegedly admitted to officers that he had snorted cocaine in his garage with his dogs in his presence.
Police bodycam footage shows an officer asking Withers, “Have they ever been exposed to your drugs before, Adam?”
Withers is seen in the video asking the officers to give Narcan to his two dogs.
“I’m not narcaning a dog,” the officer replied.
“He’s on cocaine and very impaired,” an Ashville police officer is heard saying about Withers in the police bodycam video.
The officer allegedly called the Humane Society to collect the dogs but didn’t receive an answer. The officer said the dog warden “won’t come get them.”
The dog warden told WSYX-TV that the officer canceled the request for assistance that same night.
‘… some of the most gruesome videos one could ever envision.’
In addition, just weeks before the deadly mauling, a judge ordered the dogs’ owners to remove them from the home after several complaints to the homeowners’ association, WCMH-TV reported. However, the dogs reportedly were never removed.
USA Today reported that one of the pit bulls attacked another neighbor and killed her goldendoodle dog in October 2023.
Rex H. Elliott — the attorney representing Echelbarger’s family — told WSYX-TV, “This case involves the most vicious and savage dog mauling in the history of the state of Ohio and perhaps beyond.”
A lawsuit filed in Pickaway County on Wednesday accused the Reserve at Ashton Village Condominium Association and the Pickaway County dog warden of neglect in the grandmother’s death.
“The fact is that if the dog warden or condo association had done their jobs, Jo Ann Echelbarger would be alive today, and her family would not have to live with this profound loss or the constant memory of the horrific nature in which she was killed,” Elliott said. “These failures resulted in the death of a wonderful 73-year-old wife, mother, and grandmother.”
The filing stated, “Part of Jo Ann’s harm was the extreme and severe conscious physical and mental pain and suffering she experienced in the moments before, during, and after being viciously attacked and prior to her death. Part of this was caught on some of the most gruesome videos one could ever envision.”
Echelbarger’s son, Bill Rogers, told WSYX-TV that the officials’ response that day was “reckless.”
“I feel like they were gambling with a lot of people’s lives that day,” Rogers said. “And she was the one who paid the price.”
Rogers said of the dog owners, “How do you not look at them as a villain responsible for killing your mom? I’ll tell you the truth. I want to make my statement and look him right in the eyes as I do it.”
Earlene Romine, the victim’s daughter, said, “She did not deserve this. She was tortured, and she suffered. This is not what you expect your parent to go through. This is not what you expect to happen to anyone you love.”
The wrongful death suit is demanding compensatory damages exceeding $25,000 as well as punitive damages of an amount to be revealed at trial.
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Pit bull attack, Pit bull, Dogs, Animals, Dog attack, Mauled to death, Mauling, When animals attack, Bodycam video, Police bodycam footage, Crime
