Parents for Dog Bite Awareness

This is why we say their names. 

The abusers and narcissists gaslight, minimize, and deny the facts. They threaten us. They attack us. But they cannot escape their names.

These victims existed. They were murdered. No amount of screaming, reporting, or flower crowns can erase the bodies from this earth.

The pit defenders want you to hide. To delete your comments. To let them attack publicly but not respond. (Can we say massive entitlement and control issues.)

They throw fits. They threaten you with violence. They misuse the Meta system to file false reports. They pretend to be the victims. 

But we will continue to remember the real victims. 

I’m going to amend the viral list with “circumstances” when available. You want circumstances? I’ll give you the circumstances. 

Here are the reported fatal dog attacks on humans only in the United States only for 2023 only that I’ve updated with as many details as possible. Remember, #SayTheirNames to create a permanent timeline that the abusers can’t erase.

1) 01/06/23 #Sadie Davila, 7, Baton Rouge, LA. – Killed by her neighbor’s loose pitbull while playing in her own front yard quietly with her grandma. The dog ran across the street and killed her. Her grandma could not stop the attack, trying desperately to beat off the dog with her cane. 

Her father wrote on Instagram: “RIP my sweet Sadie Elizabeth, 7-years-old & taken from us in the most violent way. The world is a cruel place. You were the light in my heart.”

2) 01/21/23 #Kellan Islas, 7, Ft. Hall Reservation, ID. – Killed by 2 Rottweilers and 2 “mixed breeds” that all looked like pit mixes. His mom noticed he hadn’t come inside the house. She ran outside to see the four dogs tearing him apart. She frantically tried to save him, lying on top of him and screaming for help, so the dogs mauled her, too. 

3) 01/24/23 #Doris McBurse, 66, Pitts, GA. – Killed by her husband’s blue nosed pit. He bred them and proudly posted about them on social media. The dogs broke their chains in their intense desire to kill her. She tried to climb into her car to escape but bled out before help arrived.

4) 02/01/23 Man, Houston, TX. – Killed by neighbor’s pit bull mixes 

5) 02/01/23 #Stanley Hartt, 64, Tucumcari, NM. – Killed by a pack of 5 dogs reported as mixed breeds. Photos showed several pit type dogs. He was minding his own business and walking home. 

6) 02/20/23 #Bonnie Varnes, 57, Toledo, OH. – Killed by her daughter’s pet pitbull in her own backyard. She was an ardent #pitbulladvocate and regularly posted photos of Peaches the pit on her social media.

7) 02/24/23 #Ramon Najeras, 81, San Antonio, TX. – Killed by two neighbor pits that were known to be dangerous and had escaped their fenced yard. His wife was severely injured, too. The couple was visiting family and was attacked by their car. It took 6 months to indict the owners. 

8) 02/24/23 Man, Escambia County, FL. – Killed by 3 pitbulls

9) 02/28/23 #Joe Cleveland Scott, 65, Jefferson County, AL. – Killed by pack of dogs including pit mixes on the side of the road. 

10) 03/07/23 #Mateo Salvador, 42, Jurupa Valley, CA. – Killed by 3 Belgian Malinois and 1 Cane Corso while working at a customer’s home. His screams as they killed him were so loud that neighbors could hear him down the street and called 911. 

11) 03/17/23 #Kristen Potter, 38, New Bloomfield, PA. – Killed by 2 pit mixes she was feeding for her neighbor. The media tried to report them as Great Dane mixes but the photos showed pit mixes at best. Her young son had to watch the dogs murder her and was also attacked. 

12) 03/21/23 Man, Visalia, CA. – Killed by a guard dog at the business where he was working

13) 03/22/23 #Don Gibson, 63, Tulsa, OK. – Killed by a pack of dogs, at least two of which were his pet pitbulls. He had rescued a pit and it started fighting with the other dogs. He tried to stop them and they turned on him. 

14) 04/04/23 #Blake Bettis, 2, Brunswick, MD. – Killed by his grandma’s pit mix named Cash after playing with him all day. It randomly grabbed him and mauled him to death while the family was present. Some sources tried to lie, claiming different breeds but photos of the intact, male dog on social media showed a clear am bully under the pit umbrella.

15) 04/04/23 #Daniel Bonacorsi, Detroit, MI. – Killed by 2 pitbulls outside a vacant building. It’s reported he may have been trying to help or rescue them. The pits were known to be violent and the unhoused owner proudly posted about his dogs “doing it again” on social media. 

16) 04/12/23 #Wilma Lee Ridner, 61, McCreary County, KY. – Killed by a pack of dogs, 5 of which were pit bulls, as she walked home one night. Like all of the victims so far, she was unarmed and minding her business.

17) 04/13/23 #Dezmond Trawick, 22, Brooklyn Center, MN. – Killed by a family member’s 4 pitbulls that he had agreed to dogsit. They attacked him when he opened the door, tearing off his clothes and fatally mauling him. 

18) 04/18/23 #Glenna Blackwelder, 71, Tulsa, OK. – Killed by her neighbor’s 2 pitbulls while she was looking for a lost cat. They reached through/over the fence to grab her and mauled her to death. 

19) 04/19/23 #Riley Aiden Miller, 1, Denton, GA. – Killed by his grandparents’ pitbull in their home. The sheriff tried to say it was a mixed breed with “some bulldog” but photos showed a clear pit type. 

20) 05/05/23 #Navy Smith, 9 months, Waterloo, IA. – Killed by her parent’s adopted pitbull. The grandma was babysitting her at the time and was also mauled. The parents identified the dog as a pitbull on their social media posts. The grandma and first responders on scene called it a pitbull. The photos on scene show a pitbull. But Navy was killed right after a pro pitbull law was passed and the media called it a hound mix. 

21) 05/09/23, #Tamieka White, 46, Indianapolis, IN. – Killed by at least one pitbull dog. She was dogsitting for a neighbor when the dogs began to attack her young son. She protected him, enabling him to run to a neighbor’s house to ask for help. When officers arrived, she was lying on the garage floor being attacked by the dogs. The dogs attempted to charge the officers so they shot the dogs.

22) 06/05/23 #Rita Vasquez, 58, Corpus, Christi, TX. – Killed by her daughter’s black and white pitbull mix that she was dogsitting for the day. The daughter later surrendered the dog to be put down.

23) 06/08/23 #Robert Showalter, 71, Beckley, WV. – Killed by his own pitbull during a medical emergency. He was sitting on the front porch with a neighbor when he passed out. The neighbor ran to a nearby home to call 911. When they returned, Robert’s pitbull was chewing his throat. Police officers arrived and had to shoot the dog to stop the attack.

24) 06/19/23 Female baby, Madison Charter Township, MI. – Killed by pit bull/husky mix.

25) 06/20/23 #Lewis Flores, 40, Rockport, TX. – Killed by a neighbor’s three adult and two puppy pitbulls unprovoked. They viciously mauled him across several blocks, tearing off his clothes/belongings in the process. An officer arrived and had to shoot towards the dogs. They ran away. Several were eventually found. The owners face 2^nd degree charges.

26) 06/21/23 Girl, 2, Apache County, AZ. – Killed by three mixed-breed pit bull dogs.

27) 06/23/23 #Helene Jackson, 84, Sierra Vista, AZ. – Killed by two pitbulls while walking her small dog in her neighborhood one afternoon. The dogs jumped over a cinderblock fence to maul her and her dog. She was airlifted to the hospital but didn’t survive. Her dog was found dead.

28) 07/03/23 #Anthony Gerard Bastardi, 67, Clayton, NC. – Killed by his daughter’s bull terrier and Cane Corso while dogsitting them. His daughter originally hired a vet tech to dogsit but the dogs attacked him so the dad went over there to take over. When he arrived, the dogs mauled him to death. Officers had to shoot the dogs to get them off the body.

29) 07/04/23 #Daylan Guillen, 6, North Port, FL. – Killed by his family’s pitbull. The mom was a pitbull advocate and had previously attacked pet stores for not allowing pitbulls. At the time of Daylan’s murder, the family had 3 pitbull type dogs, although sources believe only one killed him. The attack was unprovoked, he entered the room.

30) 07/18/23 #Leona S. Hillengas, 67, Dowling Park, FL. – Killed by four American Bulldogs under the pitbull umbrella that belonged to her grandson. She was visiting the residence when they attacked but he was not home at the time. The dogs mauled her for quite a distance, leaving her belongings and stripped clothes along the path. The family worked hard to prevent news about this case so very few sources exist.

31) 07/19/23 #Joseph Taylor Keeton, 56, Bend, OR. -Killed by three pit bull/mastiff mixes at an unhoused campsite. When officers arrived, they attempted to save Joseph by applying tourniquets but he bled out.

32) 07/29/23 Demarcus ‘Sam’ McKenzie, 27, Skipperville, AL. -Killed by a pack of dogs including pits and pit mixes. He was visiting an acquaintance’s home when one of the dogs turned on him. Frightened, he began running. The other dogs joined in, mauling him to death. Security footage shows them pulling him down in the driveway and killing him. 

33) 08/01/23 #Robert “Bob” Northrop, 71, Ocean View, HI. -Killed by three pitbull mixes and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier under the pitbull umbrella. He was a beloved father and grandfather who was attacked unprovoked in the street. The owners were not at home during the attack and could not explain how the dogs got loose.

34) 08/02/23 Man, 68, Tyrone Township, MI.- Killed by his own mastiff-mix.

35) 08/15/23 #Jeane Bennett, 93, Blytheville, AR. -Died in the hospital secondary to a pitbull attack 06/03/2023. Jeane was in her backyard minding her business when her neighbor’s three pitbulls entered her yard and mauled her to the point of exposing her bones. Officers had to dispatch the dogs when they arrived. Jeane remained hospitalized until her death. The owner faces multiple charges and has a lengthy criminal background.

36) 08/31/23 #Chanthy “Matetu” Philavong, 93, Modesto, CA. -Killed in her own yard by the neighbor’s 2 dogs described by witnesses as “Cane Corso, Mastiff, Pitbull mixes.” The dogs were loose in the front yard and at first appeared friendly on the security camera. But they targeted Chanthy. Her grandsons managed to drag her inside the home but she succumbed to her injuries. The owner of the dogs claims she was out of town and has evaded charges.

37) 09/20/23 #Billene “Billi” Cameron, 65, Kennewick, WA. -Killed by two pitbulls who entered her yard to attack her dog but then turned on her. Her small dog was non aggressive and minding its own business. The pitbulls continued attacking her even as she fled into her home. She was hospitalized but did not survive her injuries.

38) 9/24/23 #Brenda Witt, 60, Genoa, AR.- Killed by the neighbor’s 5 pitbull mixes in her own backyard. She attempted to crawl to a car to escape them and bled out in the car. Her daughter found her body when she came back home from church.

39) 9/26/23 #Diane Knepper, 70, Toledo, OH. -Killed in her yard by her own pitbull. The media tried to report it as a labrador mix, but the victim identified her own dog as a pitbull on social media.

40) 9/26/23 #Donovan Brooks, 40, Ring gold, LA. -Killed by a pack of 26 dogs including pitbulls and pit mixes. The owners hid his body in the woods. He was only discovered because the same pack of dogs later mauled #DavytaGray, who managed to survive. Numerous videos and photos posted by the owners on social media show pitbulls in the home.

41) 10/1/23 #Paul Anthony Striegl, 47, San Antonio, TX. -Died in the hospital one month after being mauled by his neighbor’s two American Staffordshire dogs aka pitbulls. The dogs crawled under the fence to attack him as he sat minding his own business in his backyard. They critically mauled his torso. He remained hospitalized until he died. One dog was dispatched. The other dog was incredibly returned to the owners.

42) 10/12/23 #Jessica Flores Wauters, 59, Harris County, TX. -Killed by her own three Rottweilers in her backyard. She was a known Rottweiler breeder and posted on social media about expanding the breed outside of existing parameters.

43) 10/18/23 #Lovell Anderson, 4, Detroit, MI. -Killed by the neighbor’s loose pitbull. He was playing in his grandma’s backyard when the pitbull dragged him under the fence and mauled him to death. Neighbor’s reported hearing the grandmother’s screams all the way down the street.

44) 10/24/23 #George Henry Smith, 19 months old, Hahira, GA. -Killed by the grandmother’s pitbull. He lived in a small, southern town and the family was well known. Media, family, and authorities worked hard to keep this case quiet, but public social media profiles of family members revealed that many of them had a pitbull hobby. One relative unintentionally confirmed the dog that killed George by engaging in a heated online argument. She attempted to claim that American Bulldogs weren’t pitbulls, accidentally revealing the dog that killed him.

45) 10/31/23 #David Eller, 65, Berkeley County, SC. -Killed by two pitbulls while taking a walk in Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park. It was an unprovoked attack. The two dogs were left loose on the front porch and targeted him. The owners approached the man as he was being mauled but did not help. A stranger driving by stopped and called 911. Her witness statement included incredulity that the owners weren’t helping the victim.

46) 10/31/23 #Colton Michael Kline 4, Spokane, WA. -Killed by the recently rescued pitbull mix in the home. Colton was primarily cared for by his grandma, who was in a relationship with a convicted sex offender. He adopted the pit mix from the local Spokane shelter. The grandma released detailed statements on social media explaining that the boy was sitting at the dinner table waiting for mac n cheese when the pit attacked, unprovoked, without warning. It fatally tore his head/throat, hitting an artery, and Colton bled out on the sidewalk while first responders attempted to stabilize him.

47) 11/01/23 #Jonirus Davis, 31, Stevens, MS. -Killed after being attacked by two loose pitbulls. He was a sanitation employee on the back of a trash truck. The two pits attacked him, either pulling him to the ground or causing him to fall. The driver didn’t see him and ran over him with the truck.

48) 11/05/23 #Jonathan Mendehall, 34, Springfield IL. -Died with his pitbull attacking him, details unknown. Details are still being gathered. He was lying unresponsive on the ground with his own pitbull attacking him when bystanders attempted to help. The dog attacked them as well. Police have not released if he died from the dog attack or from a medical emergency.

49) 11/06/23 #Sandra Dee Miller, 63, Taylor’sville, UT. -Killed by her son’s pitbulls in her own backyard. Her son lived with her and was breeding pitbulls. She was caring for them when they turned on her and mauled her. She was hospitalized in serious condition for several days but succumbed to her injuries.

50) 11/13/23 #Sharon Kaye Billups Portis, 63, Birmingham, AL. -Killed by a pack of pitbulls while riding her bicycle to work one evening. Neighbors confirmed the area has a loose dog problem and that many had complained without action. Police delayed investigation and did not effectively find the dogs that killed her.

51) 11/17/23 #Makai William, 15, Raytown, MO. -Killed by two loose pitbulls in the front yard. Details are sparse, but reports claim it was unprovoked and that the dogs were known to be violent.

52) 11/30/23 Boy, 3 months, Chelsea, AL. -Killed by the family’s pet wolf-dog hybrid. Details remain sparse, but Animals 24-7 persisted, managing to piece together facts about the case. The grandma appeared to be the owner of the dog and had a pitbull and husky at the residence.

53) 12/4/23 #Antonio Shaw, 63, Philadelphia PA. -Died in the hospital 2 months after being attacked by 5 pitbulls after accidentally knocking on the wrong door of a house. He was nonverbal due to strokes, but a neighbor saw the attack and called 911. A witness claimed the dogs were, “eating him like a piece of steak.” He had his leg amputated and battled an infection before succumbing to his injuries.

54) 12/5/23 #Loyalty (Mookie) Scott, 6, NE Portland, OR.  -Killed by 2 dogs reported to be Great Dane/Mastiff mixes. The owner was babysitting him and alleged that she told him not to follow her into the garage where she kept them. She grabbed a gun while the dogs mauled him, but decided not to shoot. Photos on social media show pitbull, maybe mastiff type mixes.

55) 12/6/23 #Beverly Hayden, 89, Logansport, IN.  -Killed by a pitbull in her home. Details remain hotly contested. Multiple relatives posted publicly online with contradicting claims, including relatives that appeared to be protecting themselves legally by denying that they were the actual owners and by trying to say the pit was a nice dog. Other relatives claimed Beverly, the grandma, was scared of the pitbull and caring for it only because she loved her grandson.

56) 12/13/23 #Carol Streit, 65, Spokane, WA. -Killed by her recently rescued pitbull mix. She adopted the dog from SCRAPS, the same shelter that adopted out Colton’s killer. Neighbors claim the dog was friendly, but confirmed that it had known dog aggression. It dragged her to a field, ripped off her clothes, dismembered her, and mauled her to the bone. Security footage shows her moments earlier walking down the street and someone can be heard moaning for help. The elected ME declared that she died of cardiac arrest from natural causes.

57) 12/15/23 Man , 59, Welton, AZ. -Found deceased after being attacked by a loose pitbull. Police are still investigating to confirm the dog killed him. Another victim, Hunter Granlund, was severely mauled by the same dog earlier in the year and said he would’ve died if others had not helped him.

58) 12/19/2023 Jasson Bullard, Big Spring, TX. -Found deceased at Howard County Fairgrounds. Group of dogs found running from the body, dog bites present on the body. Investigation confirmed Jasson was killed by dogs. Officials did not disclose breed. Locals commenting posted photos of stray dogs including pit types and claimed they cared for the dogs 🐕 in the area.

59) 12/19/2023 Alexander Andres, Miami, FL. -Found deceased with suspected fatal wounds from his own pitbull. Public comments from alleged neighbors and acquaintances suggest they are not surprised. Investigation confirmed Alexander, who had physical disabilities and mobility challenges, was killed by his dog. Officials called the dog a “terrier mix” but a social media photo reveals a pit type dog.

*Unlisted, potential 60^th victim: Joe Brown. Social media posts by family members displayed a name, photos of the deceased, and story. The alleged story is that he was attacked by his pitbull and hospitalized. He had his arm amputated. He later died of sepsis complications from the attack. Official reports do not appear to exist and it’s likely that his cause of death was listed on the death certificate as only sepsis, without primary COD.