FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. — An Alabama woman is facing a manslaughter charge after her dogs mauled to death a veteran public health employee investigating an earlier attack.
Jacqueline Summer Beard, a 17-year Alabama Department of Public Health employee, died Friday while attempting to contact the dogs’ owner in a rural area south of Red Bay, near the Mississippi state line, AL.com reported.
Meanwhile, Brandy Dowdy, 39, is being held without bail in the fatal attack, Fox News reported.
Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver told AL.com that Beard, 58, was in the area investigating the earlier attack in which a pack of dogs mauled a woman while she was walking.
“She was in pretty serious condition,” Oliver said of the first victim, who remains hospitalized in Mississippi.
“The Alabama Department of Public Health extends our deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of Summer Beard, after her tragic passing,” Ryan Easterling, the director of the department’s health media and communications division, said in a prepared statement. “Summer was known to her coworkers as an exceptional person. She was a tremendous team worker and was loved by those who knew her.”
Beard worked as an environmentalist supervisor in Franklin, Marion and Winston counties, the department confirmed, adding, “It is a very sad day for ADPH, and we ask that everyone respect the privacy of the family during this most difficult time.”
According to AL.com, ADPH investigates animal bites due to potential risks for human rabies exposure, and investigators believe that Beard went to the residence Friday to conduct her follow-up visit with Dowdy. However, deputies called to the home at about 6 p.m. for reports of a suspicious vehicle found Beard’s body.
In addition, responding deputies said that they witnessed several dogs attacking nearby residents, one of whom suffered minor injuries, Fox News reported.
“Some of the dogs had to be euthanized immediately,” the sheriff’s office stated, noting that a total of seven dogs were found on the property.
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