An elderly Air Force veteran killed by two pit bulls on San Antonio’s West Side earlier this 12 months suffered extreme lacerations to his proper arm and “deep bites to the remainder of his physique,” in line with a police report lately obtained by the Express-News.
His widow, who survived, additionally suffered a number of extreme lacerations to her proper leg in the course of the attack.
Officers discovered “massive puddles of blood within the grass the place the attack occurred,” that police report acknowledged.
The San Antonio Police Department doc supplies new particulars on the Feb. 24 mauling that sparked a outcry throughout the town due to its brutality.
Ramon Najera Jr., 81, and his spouse, Juanita “Janie” Najera, now 75, had pushed to the home of a buddy, a seamstress who lived subsequent door to the dogs within the 2800 block of Depla Street round 1:45 p.m. that day with hopes of getting a pair of pants hemmed. But their buddy wasn’t home once they arrived at her cul de sac, positioned off Cupples Road close to U.S. 90.
The seamstress’ grandson advised San Antonio police that the Najeras requested if they might depart one thing for his grandmother. He advised them sure, at which level the Leon Valley couple returned to their automobile, the police report reveals.
Three dogs belonging to husband and spouse Christian Alexander Moreno, 31, and Abilene Schnieder, additionally 31, escaped their fenced yard subsequent door. Two of these animals attacked the Najeras, whereas the third canine ran unfastened, officers have mentioned.
The seamstress’ grandson mentioned he heard Juanita Najera screaming and seemed out his window to see her being attacked by dogs, the police report reveals. The grandson mentioned he walked exterior to assist the elderly couple, however the dogs turned on him and bit him within the left hand and the suitable knee, the police report acknowledged.
A neighbor who witnessed the mauling advised police he heard yelling coming from the seamstress’ yard and will see two massive dogs attacking each of the Najeras and the seamstress’ grandson, the identical police report acknowledged. That witness reported Janie Najera’s left leg was pinned between the wheel of her automobile and the road curb. The neighbor tried to scare off the dogs with a backyard hose earlier than San Antonio firefighters arrived and tried to take management of the chaos.
Ramon Najera was brutally attacked by the 2 dogs in entrance of the seamstress’ home, the place the grass meets the road, and yelled for assist, however witnesses who tried to intervene and cease the violence have been pushed again by the animals. One witness wielded a rake, whereas one other drove as much as the mauling and sounded her automobile horn attempting to cease the attack to no avail.
A graphic 53-second video filmed by a witness confirmed one of many dogs relentlessly biting Najera, tearing off elements of his garments, then ripping a dialysis shunt out of his physique as Najera yelled for assist and tried desperately to get away. The video reveals the opposite canine standing close by on the street, barking loudly, its face and neck stained with blood, not permitting witnesses to get shut.
Schnieder and Moreno will quickly have an opportunity to overview these particulars and others within the police reviews, Animal Care Services paperwork, medical information, video footage and a raft of different proof that prosecutors have amassed whereas building a case in opposition to them.
The canine homeowners are every charged with two felonies in reference to the lethal canine mauling.
Schnieder and Moreno stay free on bond after every of them have been charged with harmful canine attack inflicting demise and recklessly inflicting harm to an elderly individual. A Bexar County grand jury indicted them on these fees in August.
If convicted of the canine attack cost, a second-degree felony, Schnieder and Moreno every resist 20 years in jail. If convicted of recklessly inflicting harm to a senior citizen, a state jail felony, they every resist two years in a state jail facility.
During a short pre-trial court docket look Tuesday, a decide ordered Schnieder to return to court docket Oct. 25, when prosecutors are anticipated to show over all investigative paperwork and video footage to the protection.
“The decide needs to ensure we’re getting off on the suitable foot,” mentioned Schnieder’s lawyer, Manuel C. Rodriguez Jr., after leaving the courtroom. “And that has to do with discovery, to make it possible for (prosecutors) flip over to us all the pieces that they’ve.”
Schnieder declined to remark as she left the courtroom with kinfolk.
Moreno, who appeared in the identical courtroom final week, sat quietly along with his spouse Tuesday, placing his arm round her shoulders earlier than she was known as as much as State District Judge Velia Meza’s bench for a number of minutes together with her lawyer and the prosecutor on the case.
Moreno is anticipated to return to court docket with Schnieder on Oct. 25.
Prosecutor Jeff Mulliner mentioned he has “most likely 90 %” of the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office’s proof “prepared to offer to them on a zipper drive at this time.” But the subsequent three weeks “will enable me to place collectively the ultimate 10 %,” he added Tuesday.
Moreno and Schnieder weren’t home when their dogs went on the rampage, however returned whereas the animals have been nonetheless unfastened and terrorizing bystanders, the witness’ video confirmed. By that time, Najera was face down and unresponsive subsequent to the road.
Najera had misplaced consciousness when firefighters arrived. The crew tried to fend off the dogs utilizing axes and poles whereas standing on prime of a automobile.
A hearth captain additionally was bitten in the suitable calf whereas attempting to maintain the dogs at bay.
“Get them away from us!” the hearth captain yelled at Moreno and Schnieder, in line with a video that the native Univision TV station posted on social media. “Your dog bit me and possibly killed another person.”
The couple then took the dogs inside their home.
Both of the Najeras have been rushed to University Hospital.
Ramon Najera Jr. was pronounced lifeless about 45 minutes after the canine attack.
His widow was in steady situation. She was later launched from the hospital.
Animal Care Services took custody of all three dogs that day. They have been later euthanized.
Moreno advised a police officer on the day of the mauling that the dogs had damaged by way of his entrance yard fence, the SAPD report reveals.
The grand jury indictments accuse Moreno and Schnieder of failing to restrain their animals, and of sustaining a fence that was too quick and had quite a few holes by way of which their dogs might go out and in, District Attorney Joe Gonzales mentioned in August.
“If you’re going to own a vicious dog, you have an obligation to do everything to secure that dog on your premises, that you ensure that you have fences that are high enough that dogs cannot jump over them, that you ensure that your fences don’t have holes or other exits where dogs can escape,” Gonzales mentioned on the time.
Before her arrest, Schnieder publicly proclaimed her husband’s innocence on her Facebook web page, the place she wrote that they didn’t abuse or neglect their pets.
Juanita “Janie” Najera has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Moreno, Schnieder and Moreno’s father, Carlos Moreno, who owned the Depla Street home the place the couple lived on the time of the canine attack.
In court docket papers, all three lawsuit defendants have denied any wrongdoing.
The Najeras have been married for 45 years. Ramon Najera was an brisk man “who liked to bounce to Tejano music” and was an enormous fan of the “West Side Sounds,” akin to Sonny Ozuna & the Sunliners, his obituary mentioned.
He traveled the world throughout his 21-year Air Force profession earlier than retiring as a Master Sergeant and returning home to San Antonio, the obituary acknowledged. He liked planning household trip journeys, amassing artwork, amassing cash and landscaping his yard, even successful Leon Valley’s beautification award, the memorial tribute reported.
“He continued to work as a safety guard … His sturdy work ethic made him very dependable,” Najera’s obituary acknowledged. “He readily accepted last-minute calls to work on the weekends, evenings or Sundays.
“He perished saving his loving spouse,” the obituary famous.
Najera was the primary of two folks to die on account of a canine attack in San Antonio this 12 months.
The different was Paul Anthony Striegl Jr., 47, who died in an area hospital Sunday evening, practically a month after he was bitten and critically injured by his next-door neighbor’s canine at a Northeast Side trailer park.
The canine that attacked Striegl additionally was euthanized by Animal Care Services.
