A mother and her son who owned two American pit bulls that fatally mauled an elderly woman Thursday in a condominium complex in Ashville were arrested Monday evening.
Adam E. Withers, 35, and his mother, Susan Ann Withers, 61, of Ashville, have both been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the fatal dog mauling of 73-year-old Jo Echelbarger. The pair have also been charged with one count of failure to restrain vicious dogs, according to Pickaway County jail records. Both of them are being held on a $55,000 bond.
On Thursday, Echelbarger was gardening when two of the pit bulls broke free from the Withers’ home and began attacking people, authorities said. The two dogs attacked and mauled Echelbarger, who was taken in critical condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown, where she died.
A witness reported that a police officer shot one of the pit bulls five times and killed it.
One of the two pit bulls later attacked another woman walking her two miniature goldendoodles on a trail near an elementary school. That pit bull killed one of the goldendoodles as the woman and the other dog fled.
Adam and Susan Withers, who both live in a condo on Kildow Court in Ashville, owned two American pit bulls that had a history of aggressive behavior, The Dispatch previously reported. In October 2023, he was cited for failure to confine his dogs, but the $125 fine was waived. Two months later, in December 2023, he was cited for not complying with the dangerous dog restrictions.
In May of this year, the county dog warden cited Adam Withers twice for violations of Ohio’s dangerous dog laws for failure to confine and failure to register.
Here are Ohio’s dangerous dog laws explained
The fatal dog attack had residents of the condominium complex and other people in Ashville angry and upset. One neighbor told The Dispatch that those same pit bulls had allegedly attacked and killed another neighborhood dog last year.
@ShahidMeighan
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