Alabama Public Health Worker Killed by Dog Pack, Owner Faces Manslaughter Charge

A state public health worker conducting a routine follow-up investigation was killed by a pack of dogs in rural Franklin County, Alabama, and the animals' owner now faces a felony manslaughter charge, NBC News reported ^[1].

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced dead by the Franklin County coroner after local residents called police to report a suspicious vehicle. Officers located her body in a rural area outside Red Bay, near the Mississippi state line. According to NBC News, Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime employee of the Alabama Department of Public Health. The same dogs were the reason Beard had been visiting the area that morning. She was following up on a report of a woman who had been attacked by the pack the previous day.

Beard is believed to have been trying to contact the dogs' owner, identified by the Franklin County Sheriff's Office as Brandy Lee Dowdy, 39, when the dogs killed her. Investigators concluded that Beard was attacked as she attempted to approach Dowdy's property. When officers arrived at the scene, several dogs began attacking residents, causing one minor injury, and some animals were euthanized immediately. Officers then found Beard's body in her car.

Dowdy was charged with manslaughter and is being held without bail, according to public records. Prosecutors also charged Dowdy with a violation of Emily's Law, a statute enacted in 2018 that imposes felony liability on the owner of a dog that attacks after previously injuring or killing someone. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed Emily's Law on March 8, 2018, and it took effect on June 1, 2018. The law provides a mechanism for the humane euthanization of a dangerous dog that has killed or seriously injured a person. The law is named after Emily Colvin, 24, who died after being attacked by a pack of dogs in the front yard of her Jackson County home in late 2017.

A Franklin County grand jury later indicted Dowdy in a second death connected to the same dog pack. Brandy Lee Dowdy of Red Bay was indicted in the death of Michelle Ann Sheeks, the woman who was injured in the attack Beard had been dispatched to investigate. Prosecutors alleged that Dowdy permitted the dogs to run freely as a pack despite knowing they were dangerous. Sheeks died on July 12, 2022, from complications related to her injuries. Ryan Easterling, acting director of communications for the Alabama Department of Public Health, issued a statement saying the department was grieving Beard's death.

The case highlights the reach of Emily's Law as a prosecutorial tool. Under the statute, an owner whose dog has been declared dangerous and whose animal kills or seriously injures a person faces a Class B felony, while an owner who knew a dog was dangerous but failed to act faces a Class C felony. Franklin County prosecutors invoked both the manslaughter statute and the dangerous dog law, signaling an intent to pursue the broadest available criminal exposure against Dowdy.

References

[1] NBC News. (2022, May 02). Alabama woman killed by pack of dogs; owner charged with manslaughter. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/alabama-woman-killed-pack-dogs-owner-charged-manslaughter-rcna26843

[2] The Washington Post. (2022, May 02). Owner of dogs who killed Jacqueline Summer Beard charged with manslaughter. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/02/alabama-dog-attack-jacqueline-beard/

[3] The Associated Press via U.S. News & World Report. (2022, September 21). Alabama woman charged in 2 dog-mauling deaths. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alabama/articles/2022-09-21/alabama-woman-charged-in-2-dog-mauling-deaths