Bridges’ next hearing is scheduled for late May. If convicted, the judge said he could face up to 10 years in prison with or without hard labor.
NEW ORLEANS — Chad Bridges, 37, faces negligent homicide charges after his three dogs mauled and killed 81-year-old neighbor Barbara Stewart in New Orleans East.
A judge set his bond at $100,000, as the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office raised serious questions about dog breeding and training.
Prosecutors presented disturbing social media videos allegedly showing Bridges training his dogs to attack. One video included comments suggesting the dog was a “killer” and the dog was eating a “human.”
Defense attorney John Fuller argued that the dog in the video was not owned by his client and disputed the videos’ characterization.
“Any suggestion that those videos were images of him teaching dogs to attack humans is 100 percent disingenuous,” Fuller said.
The Orleans District Attorney’s Office argued Stewart’s death was “avoidable and foreseeable,” citing video evidence that Bridges ran with his dogs off-leash and bred them.
Devin Jones, another defense attorney, emphasized Bridges’ cooperation.
“They were trying to argue that our client is a danger to society, when in fact, we were able to prove and show that he was the one who called 911,” Jones said, “He was the one while the ambulance took 30 minutes to get there, found a nurse in the neighborhood to be able to assist this lady while she was had just been attacked.”
The lead NOPD detective on the case, Matthew Riffle, said the dogs escaped Bridges’ yard through a damaged fence and attacked Stewart outside her home on March 20.
“At some point, despite our best efforts, a dog will get away from you,” Fuller said.
Riffle testified that a teenage neighbor was bitten by one of Bridges’ dogs last year, but the defense countered that no police or medical reports corroborated the claim.
Records from the Louisiana SPCA indicated that animal control visited the address in 2018, but not regarding the dogs involved in Stewart’s death.
The judge ordered Bridges to have no pets and wear an ankle monitor while awaiting trial.
Bridges’ attorneys stated he knew Stewart for 20 years and expressed remorse.
“He misses her because they had a very good relationship,” Fuller said.
Bridges’ next hearing is scheduled for late May. If convicted, the judge said he could face up to 10 years in prison with or without hard labor.
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