Couple charged after woman mauled to death by dogs at home in Milam County

ROCKDALE, Texas — Two people have been charged following an investigation into a woman’s death near Rockdale.

According to the Milam County Sheriff’s Office, 88-year-old Delores Woolverton was found dead at a home on Beverly Drive back on Dec. 18, 2024.

When deputies arrived, seven dogs were found on the property, which had to be removed out of an abundance of caution. Investigators then determined that at least one of the dogs secured after the incident had a prior history of an unprovoked attack against an American Medical Response employee.

Officials ordered the dogs to be euthanized following the incident. Meanwhile, an autopsy showed Woolverton’s cause of death was canine mauling. Following the autopsy, 61-year-old Joel Rubio and 65-year-old Terri Ann Frank were arrested and charged with felony attack by dog resulting in death.

The sheriff’s office said both Rubio and Frank have bonded out of jail and that all seven dogs have since been euthanized.

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office added that the dog with a history of an unprovoked attack fulfilled the requirements to define the dog as dangerous under Lillian’s Law.

After Lillian Stiles was attacked and killed by six dogs in 2005, the Texas Legislature passed Lillian’s Law in 2007.

The law was passed in memory of Stiles and other victims of unprovoked dog attacks after Stiles was mauled in her front yard in Thorndale. Authorities said the dogs ran loose inside a pen before they broke free and escaped a 3-foot fence.

The law made dog owners criminally responsible if they were found to be criminally negligent by failing to secure their dogs in an unprovoked attack off their owner’s property.

If convicted, penalties can include two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for serious injuries, or up to 20 years in prison if the attack leads to death.