SAN ANTONIO – Jiriyah Johnson was supposed to turn two years old on Tuesday. Instead, his family is mourning his death.
“I mean it’s his birthday, his birthday is almost here, terrible twos,” said Erika Castro, mother of Jiriyah Johnson.
Jiriyah was killed by several dogs when a babysitter allegedly left him alone with them last year.
“When I lay in bed and I’m falling asleep, I used to put him to sleep on my chest, lately I haven’t been sleeping well cause I miss that,” said Julian Johnson, Jiraiya’s Father.
Soon after his death, his father said he would like to see an easier way to report dangerous dogs.
During this legislative session, there were several bills that would have helped to correct the dangerous dog issue here in San Antonio, but none of them passed.
One was called the Ramon Najera Act, named after an 81-year-old Air Force veteran who was mauled to death in 2023.
“It’s gonna save a baby or an elderly, you know it’s gonna save somebody who can’t defend themselves,” said Johnson.
It would have also made owners of dangerous dogs pay more for violations.
Local lawmakers say they didn’t get as much support as they wanted from other state legislators.
“Apparently other cities aren’t dealing with the same plague, the same problem that we are,” said State Sen. José Menéndez.
“What we need to do now is really work in the interim to come together and all be on the same page,” said State Rep. John Lujan.
The next time state legislation like this could be brought up again would be in 2027.
“At this point, I’m like something really needs to go on, like, they need to realize like, ok this is getting out of hand, this is getting out of control,” said Castro.
I asked the family what their next steps were, and they told me court. They are going to see the babysitter, Heather Rodriguez, in court. She is expected to go to trial in July.
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