Woman charged in fatal pit bull attack - Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

Woman charged in fatal pit bull attack

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By Janice Broach - bio | email
Sherry Wooten (Source: ShelbySheriff.org) Sherry Wooten (Source: ShelbySheriff.org)
The dogs as they were captured by Animal Control officers. The dogs as they were captured by Animal Control officers.

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MEMPHIS, TN -

By Janice Broach - bio | email

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - A Memphis woman was charged with reckless homicide Thursday after being accused of releasing the pit bulls that attacked an elderly man who later died of a heart attack.

Sherry Wooten, 23, was charged in the death of 71-year-old William Parker.  Wooten was also charged with four counts of felony reckless endangerment in connection with attacks on four other people by the dogs.

Parker died after the pit bulls attacked him and his daughter, Gardenia Parker, after she ran to help him.

Gardenia Parker said her life has been changed forever.

"We have to wake up and live another day without him," Parker said.

She said her mother is still living with the habits of having her husband.

"She woke up this morning to fix him a cup of coffee," Parker said.  "He didn't come out of the bedroom to get it."

Parker recalled the horrific attack on her father.

"When I got there, the dog had already tore both of his legs to pieces," she said.  "No skin, just bones there.  It's just a horrible sight to see my dad just lying there."

The dogs then attacked her.

"I kept fighting the dogs because the dogs were still trying to attack him," Parker said.

The dogs knocked Parker down a hill, breaking her arm.  She has bite wounds over a significant portion of her body.

The dogs belonged to Bernard Humphrey, who lives in the apartment where the animals tried to return to after Animal Control officers tried to capture them.

Newly released information shows police were called to the apartment on Sunday about dogs running loose.  When they arrived, the dogs were secured, but Humphrey was arrested on an outstanding warrant.  Humphrey called a relative, who took possession of the dogs.

Tuesday, Wooten, a friend of Humphrey, let the dogs loose.  Police said Wooten was aware the animals were vicious.  That same day, William Parker and three other people were attacked.

"I want someone to pay," said Gardenia Parker.  "I'm paying right now, and I want someone else to suffer."

Click here to watch RAW VIDEO of the dogs being captured by Animal Control officers.

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