Ohio grandmother’s family filed lawsuit after filing fatal bullfighting attack
Warning: This story contains graphic content.
Two bulldogs were killed by Ohio grandmother last year, despite a history of attacks, even in a cocaine hiding weeks before the incident, according to a new lawsuit in the new incident.
Jo Ann Echelbarger, 73, was killed on October 17 by a pair of bulldogs named Apollo and Echo owned by suspects Susan and Adam Withers.
According to a March 13 lawsuit filed on behalf of Echelbarger’s family, the deceased lived in the complex for only a few months before being killed. Two bulldogs “run around the public areas of the reserve and eventually attacked Joe Ann while gardening peacefully.”
“Part of the harm of Jo Ann was the extreme and severe physical and mental pain she suffered before and after the vicious attack and the pain she suffered before her death,” the document said. “Part of it was on some of the most terrifying videos one might imagine.”
The owner said
Jo Ann Echelbarger, 73, was destroyed by two bulldogs while “peaceful gardening.” (Handout/Google Maps)
The lawsuit states that Echelbarger’s lifelong fear of dogs made the tragedy worse. The dogs were later killed by police.
“Jo Ann’s life-long attack and last moment were particularly horrifying because Jo Ann was worried that the dog was bitten by a dog when he was a kid,” the lawsuit said.
“In fact, these dogs were so aggressive and persistent in threatening, violent and aggressive behavior that police were forced to shoot and kill the dogs to end the terror,” the lawsuit said. “Even if the bullet hit one of the dogs, it returned to Joan, continued the offensive, and then returned to Withers’ home.”
According to the lawsuit, the October incident is not the first time the dog is in trouble. The document lists several violent or destructive incidents involving dogs – including the October 2023 incident where Apollo attacked residents and killed their dogs.
The lawsuit alleges that Withers’ dog was reportedly ordered to leave the community in a court order that was not enforced on Sept. 11.
On September 27, three weeks before Echelbarger’s death, police officers were called to see the dog because “Echo and Apollo ingested cocaine from Adam Withers”.
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Jo Ann Echelbarger took a photo with her husband in an undated photo and was attacked by two bulldogs named Echo and Apollo. (via Facebook Handout/Adam Withers)
“The body camera footage of the incident shows that Asheville PD said the warden’s office was useless,” the lawsuit said.
Rex H. Elliott, the attorney representing Echelbarger’s family.
“The truth is that if the dog guard or apartment association had done the job, Jo Ann Echelbarger was alive today, and her family wouldn’t have to endure such a huge loss or constant memory of the horrible nature of her murder,” Elliott said.
“These failures resulted in the death of an excellent 73-year-old wife, mother and grandmother.”
Adam Withers and his mother, Susan Withers, were arrested for the incident. (Pikaway County Sheriff’s Office)
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Fox News Digital contacted the lawyer representing Withers but did not receive a timely response from the publication.
