Tragic: Did Dallas Police Leave This Grandmother and Army Vet to Die After She Was Attacked by a Pack of Dogs?
A helpless woman in a Dallas screamed for at least 20 minutes while a pack of dogs ripped her to shreds last month. Now, recently released 911 calls from her frightened neighbors are shedding new light on the story.
Antoinette Brown, 52, an Army veteran and grandmother, was attacked by a pack of six dogs in her south Dallas neighborhood on May 2 and died from her injuries. On Tuesday, police released two 911 calls they received from her worried neighbors, who were unable to get to the woman to help her.
The calls contradict authorities' version of events, which says cops arrived on the scene just seven minutes after the first call. The sequence of the 911 calls, however, paint a picture of police leaving Brown to die.
The first call was placed by neighbor Jackie Humphrey at 4:43 a.m., who told police: "She’s out there begging for somebody to help her. I know some dogs was out there and somebody came and ran them off. But she’s still out there moaning and groaning and I’m scared to go outside." Ms. Humphrey said she could also hear Brown begging for help.
"She’s been doing it — moaning and groaning — and if something happens to her, I would feel bad if I didn’t call y’all to come out here and check it out," Humphrey adds.
The dispatcher then reassures Ms. Humphrey that help is on the way.
Nineteen minutes after Ms. Humphrey called police, another neighbor identified as "Kenneth" called 911 as well and sounded more frantic. By the time Kenneth called police at 5:02 a.m., he said the woman was still out in the street being attacked by several dogs.
That contradicts police reports that they arrived on the scene at 4:50 a.m. According to Kenneth's call, police arrived by the end of his phone call.
Meanwhile, Brown's daughter Matisha Ward said she is grateful to the two neighbors who alerted police. But given the circumstances, Brown's family is considering filing a lawsuit against the city for $5 million.
Brown was found with more than 100 bites across her body in an empty lot, as the dogs had already fled from the scene. She died a week later in the hospital from her injuries.
Humphrey said that she tried to have Dallas Animal Services capture the same dogs a year ago after she claims one killed her chihuahua. She said initially when she called the police about Brown's attack, police told her to call 311 about the dogs.
Upon calling 311, Humphrey claims that she was told by an official that no one would come to the neighborhood for 72 hours. "I said, 'Evidently, y'all are not communicating or something,'" Humphrey told Fox 4.
Other neighbors claim that the aggressive dogs would roam the neighborhood frequently after getting out through holes in fences. Now, city officials plan to revisit the policies on loose dogs after Brown's tragic death.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings stated that Dallas Animal Services has "to do a better job picking up stray dogs."
"The priority has not been high enough, obviously," Rawlings said. "Progress is great, but we were in a deep hole and we have a long ways to go."
It has since been brought to light that the director of animal services created a plan to hire nine more employees eight months ago and five of the positions were empty for a year. The case is still under investigation and no charges have been filed. Authorities believe that they have identified the owner of the loose dogs who attacked Brown and the dogs were captured days later following the horrific attack. Humphrey believes that had Dallas Animal Services listened to the complaints from the neighborhood a year ago, Brown would still be alive. Sadly, it seems despite all she did for her country, the city of Dallas truly failed Antoinette Brown.