Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Horrific sight as beautiful 9 year-old girl dragged off bike, killed by 3 pit bulls

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Horrific sight as beautiful 9 year-old girl dragged off bike, killed by 3 pit bulls · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, from the police, to the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: EMS responders, to the Hernandez family itself, the death of
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  Speaker 1: nine year old Emma Hernandez is one that will not
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  Speaker 1: soon be forgotten. It was a horrifying death and a
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  Speaker 1: family is desperate to cooke. She's a very, very, very
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  Speaker 1: smart girl. No, she's going to be very very missed.
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  Speaker 1: Emma's pictures show her to be the beautiful, fun loving
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  Speaker 1: child the family describes. This is her neighborhood. She should
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  Speaker 1: be able to be free and do what every kid does,
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  Speaker 1: walk around and ride their bikes. They shouldn't be afraid
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  Speaker 1: to be in their own neighborhood. Today, the bicycle she
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  Speaker 1: rode when the dogs attacked sat in the front lawn
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  Speaker 1: just behind the makeshift memorial. Mourners started building last night
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  Speaker 1: and continued today. Teddy bears a skateboard lick candles. Her
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  Speaker 1: aunt and mother, Claudia Stapleton, told Local four News. Then
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  Speaker 1: Emma's father, Armando, who didn't feel up to speaking on camera,
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  Speaker 1: battled with the dog's owner just last week, had actually
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  Speaker 1: had an argument with them that they needed to be
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  Speaker 1: property fence, they couldn't be just be roaming out, and
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  Speaker 1: he just didn't do anything. The DPD arrested the owner
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  Speaker 1: last night. In the meantime, the animal control unit tells
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  Speaker 1: us that they expect to euthanize those three pit bulls.
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  Speaker 1: I just feel like I'm gonna be sick, physically sick.
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  Speaker 1: This gorgeous nine year old little girl, Emma mauled dead
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  Speaker 1: by not one, not two, but three pit bulls that
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  Speaker 1: are so crazy to get at her. They broke through
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  Speaker 1: a fence as she rode her bike near her own home.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot even imagine dying that way, much less is
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  Speaker 1: a nine year old child being attacked by pitbulls. You
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  Speaker 1: were just hearing our friend at NBC four. That was
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  Speaker 1: Rob Maloney and he was speaking with Emma's family. Oh
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  Speaker 1: my stars, I mean to see grace. This is crime stories.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us. You know, Jason oceans
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  Speaker 1: with me, renowned defense attorney in the Tri state area
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  Speaker 1: joining me right now out of New York, but also
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  Speaker 1: a long time personal friend, even though he is a
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  Speaker 1: defense lawyer. Trying not to think about that or hold
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  Speaker 1: it against him. But Jason, you have a beautiful boy
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  Speaker 1: and girl. Okay. You and I sat through hours and
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  Speaker 1: hours and hours on a darkened set at Court TV,
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  Speaker 1: watching live trials and commenting on them and our golf voices.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, all the years I talked to you
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  Speaker 1: about how I wanted a family and could it ever
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  Speaker 1: happen for me? And literally since nineteen ninety seven we
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  Speaker 1: first started talking about what I ever get to have
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  Speaker 1: a family. Can you imagine a nine year old little
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  Speaker 1: girl just riding her bike, attack bike, not one, but
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  Speaker 1: three pitbulls and mauled dead? Jason, I mean, how could
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  Speaker 1: anybody defend the dog owner? You can't, Nancy. I mean
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  Speaker 1: it chokes me up listening to this. And you know
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  Speaker 1: you have a responsibility. You have animals and they have
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  Speaker 1: a pedigree, and you're responsible for your animals and they
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  Speaker 1: need to be secure, and you can't be flipping about it.
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  Speaker 1: You know, the defendant might be tearful, who cares well?
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  Speaker 1: I think I've got somebody that disagrees with you, Jason Oceans,
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  Speaker 1: I've got somebody. Her name is Penny Douglas. She's known
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  Speaker 1: throughout the Southeast region from Georgia to Florida to Alabama,
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  Speaker 1: you name it. She's also known aka as a quote
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  Speaker 1: dog nut. And let me tell you what happened one
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  Speaker 1: time I was taking something, some kind of legal proceedings
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  Speaker 1: or some documents to Penny douglas Fur's home. Okay, I
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  Speaker 1: walk pretty home from the outside. Who knows what dangerous
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  Speaker 1: lurk inside. I go up to the front porch and
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  Speaker 1: it's a nice, big, two story home of a front yard.
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  Speaker 1: In the backyard, in the trees, into this, into that.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't even get to ring the doorbell when this
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  Speaker 1: mass of fur and teeth and snarling insanity hurled itself
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  Speaker 1: to the door. I thought I nearly ran off the porch.
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  Speaker 1: I just it was. I guess eight rockweilers living in
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  Speaker 1: the house, running wild. And if you look in the house,
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  Speaker 1: there's all these, you know, like ceramic figurines and ballet
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  Speaker 1: dancers and aren't on the walls, and the dogs. So, Penny,
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  Speaker 1: I think the dogs should have gotten the death penalty.
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  Speaker 1: I don't have a problem with it. Oh. I have
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  Speaker 1: a problem with given the death penalty to the dog.
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  Speaker 1: I blame the owner, not the dog. They killed a
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  Speaker 1: nine year old little girl, Penny, I understand that. So
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  Speaker 1: the owner should have had the dogs properly restrained and
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  Speaker 1: it wouldn't happen. I understand the little girl's father got
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  Speaker 1: into an argument with the owner the day before about
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  Speaker 1: the fact that the fence was broken and the dogs
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  Speaker 1: could get through it. And I would never and I
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  Speaker 1: know you wouldn't let your children go out if they
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  Speaker 1: were loose dogs in the neighborhoods that are three. I
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  Speaker 1: cannot believe you are trying to put this on the parents.
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  Speaker 1: I also understand there are allegations that the dogs had
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  Speaker 1: been loose before and went to a nearby store, and
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  Speaker 1: on another occasion they attacked and killed some puppies, killed
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  Speaker 1: some puppies. I mean to me, Doctor Brian Russell, lawyer
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  Speaker 1: and psychologist, host of the hit series on ID Fatal
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  Speaker 1: Vows and author, doctor Brian Russell, I mean to me,
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  Speaker 1: it's just like a machine gun, an oozy laying in
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  Speaker 1: the front yard and it goes off and guns people down,
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  Speaker 1: guns down a child. To have three wild pit bulls
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  Speaker 1: and Penny dub with fur. I mean, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: how she even fixed her mouth to say this, somehow
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  Speaker 1: suggests the parents shouldn't let the little girl out, like
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  Speaker 1: she's the one that needs to be fenced in to
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  Speaker 1: ride her bike. I accuse her regularly of having lost
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  Speaker 1: her mind. But guess what, she hasn't lost her mind.
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  Speaker 1: She really believes that she argues it successfully in court.
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  Speaker 1: What well, let me first just say that I too,
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  Speaker 1: am a huge dog lover. In fact, there's a thin
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  Speaker 1: line between dog lover and dog. Well. Yeah, I don't
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  Speaker 1: know if I cross into that territory, but I will
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  Speaker 1: tell you I'm embarrassed to say that. No matter what
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  Speaker 1: I put on my social media about psychology or crime
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  Speaker 1: or law or whatever, the most popular things I ever
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  Speaker 1: post or pictures of my dog. And over the last
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  Speaker 1: several years, with all the media that I've been doing,
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  Speaker 1: I have not taken very many law cases as a lawyer.
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  Speaker 1: But I have one now that is almost exactly what
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  Speaker 1: you just said. And I took it because these these
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  Speaker 1: two young women owned this little dog. One of them
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  Speaker 1: took the dog out for a walk, and this guy,
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  Speaker 1: just like in this case, who let his pit bulls
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  Speaker 1: be out running wild in his front yard, the pit
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  Speaker 1: bulls killed these young women's little dog. They just came
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  Speaker 1: out and tore the little dog to there's a little
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  Speaker 1: docks and tore it to pieces. And in that kind
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  Speaker 1: of a case, I absolutely cannot understand how the girls
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  Speaker 1: that owned this dog could have any liability whatsoever, and
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to hear about Oh well, they knew
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  Speaker 1: that sometimes these pit bulls are out running loose in
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  Speaker 1: the neighborhood. Nothing. It's a negligent, negligent, reckless, irresponsible owner,
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  Speaker 1: just like in this case. And I'm so angry, of
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  Speaker 1: course for the loss of this little girl, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: angry at what this does to I mean, it is
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  Speaker 1: I can't you know, well, I'm gonna let you and
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  Speaker 1: Penny Douglas fur just ste in the same pot. Take
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  Speaker 1: a listen to w x y Z reporter Matt Smith.
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  Speaker 1: The family's still really in shock and in mourning. Community
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  Speaker 1: members stopping by the house all day, and makeshift memorial
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  Speaker 1: already started for little Emma. And really all anybody can
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  Speaker 1: say at this point in time is they don't know
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  Speaker 1: what comes next. Candle's flicker in the picture stands for
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  Speaker 1: all the sea. Emma Rnandez taken far too soon. Family
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  Speaker 1: members telling me she was riding this bike like she
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  Speaker 1: always rode, when she was turning around at an alley.
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  Speaker 1: There she was met by three dogs who mauled her
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  Speaker 1: to death. When I'd come out of my house, I
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  Speaker 1: heard all the screaming and that I was aware that
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  Speaker 1: something bad had happened. That neighbor wasn't the only one
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  Speaker 1: that heard the screams, and his twelve year old brother
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  Speaker 1: had to witness the horrifying scene as well, running towards her.
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  Speaker 1: This afternoon, police tell me the owner of the dogs
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  Speaker 1: is in Costy. A warrant request has yet to be filed,
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  Speaker 1: and at last check two dogs were still being held
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  Speaker 1: by animal control. The third was shot by a neighbor.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Stories with Nancy Grace, So one moment, that nine
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  Speaker 1: year old girl having fun playing in this alleyway here,
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  Speaker 1: the next she's being viciously attacked by dogs. When I'd
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  Speaker 1: come out of my house, I heard all the screaming
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  Speaker 1: and that I was aware that something bad had happened.
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  Speaker 1: Deborah Golden says it was the worst scene she's ever seen.
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  Speaker 1: I've seen the little girl flat on her back with
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  Speaker 1: the bite marks and part of her neck kinging. The
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  Speaker 1: nine year old was attacked by three pit bulls shortly
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  Speaker 1: before four pm while playing in an alley near Central
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  Speaker 1: Avenue in Smart Street. I started CPR and I hit
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  Speaker 1: the dead, grab her neck and hold it. One man
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  Speaker 1: who saw the attack quickly came to the young girl's aid,
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  Speaker 1: trying to free her from the dog's mouth. I went
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  Speaker 1: and grab a break and threw it right at the dogs.
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  Speaker 1: They all ran in. I stood next to the girl
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  Speaker 1: to make sure if she's okay. I yelled out for help.
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  Speaker 1: Police say one of the dogs was shot a friend
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  Speaker 1: of the owners. I was told that fired a shot
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  Speaker 1: at the dog. This vicious and fatal attack is leaving
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  Speaker 1: neighbors and police wondering why these dogs attacked ending this
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  Speaker 1: young girl's life. Are you talking about a nine year
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  Speaker 1: old girl who was just out there playing and now
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  Speaker 1: she's not here. But I did not realize that they
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  Speaker 1: will be doing this. They're not vicious dogs. They're really
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  Speaker 1: nice dogs. They're gentle. I don't know what came over
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  Speaker 1: to who and the hay just said they were gentle
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  Speaker 1: and nice. They're not gentle and nice. They're killers. And
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  Speaker 1: they stood over this nine year old little girl's body
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  Speaker 1: and literally tore her neck out of her body. That
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  Speaker 1: was w x y z Alan Campbell pitbulls peaceful. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I haven't even gotten to leave. I page climb online
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  Speaker 1: dot Com investigative reporter or Steve Lampley detective. But Penny
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  Speaker 1: dovis fur. Why is it always pitbulls. A nine year
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  Speaker 1: old little girl, a little girl just riding her bike
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  Speaker 1: is now dead. Why is it always pitbulls and rockwallers.
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  Speaker 1: It's not always rockwallers and pitbulls. It's just those are
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  Speaker 1: the ones you hear about because those are the stories
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  Speaker 1: that make the knees. But there are plenty of other
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  Speaker 1: kinds of dogs that attack. And when you have more
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  Speaker 1: than two dogs, you have dogs that get into this.
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  Speaker 1: They got they're in a group now and they will
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  Speaker 1: attack much more than if they're alone. And you said
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  Speaker 1: there was the first incident. When that first incident occurred,
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  Speaker 1: there should have been a ticket. They should have gone
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  Speaker 1: to court. If these dogs were dangerous dogs, they should
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  Speaker 1: have been ordered to be kept in a certain type
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  Speaker 1: of environment where they could not get at WOULDA COULDA, shoulda.
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  Speaker 1: The reality is pit bulls are still responsible for most
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  Speaker 1: fatal attacks in the US, by far, killing two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and eighty four people over a period of time, sixty
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  Speaker 1: six percent of total dog attack fatalities. And that is
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  Speaker 1: despite the breed of pit bulls accounting for just six
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  Speaker 1: point five percent of the total dog population. I'm getting
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  Speaker 1: that from Forbes. They're six point five percent of the
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  Speaker 1: total dog population, but they are sixty six percent of
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  Speaker 1: total fatalities. Now, when I brought home my pound puppy
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  Speaker 1: Nitro Buddha bad debt Aka fat Boy, that's the name
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: that stuck my pound cat Centnamon and to believe it
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: or not, pound guinea pigs Chloe and Abbey Lord in Heaven.
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  Speaker 1: Oh I heard from Penny Douglas. Fur was Dodson's attack,
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  Speaker 1: Hiawa's attack. You know what they may, but they don't
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  Speaker 1: kill as far as I know. LEVI page Crime online dog. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: oh yes, hold on, docksins killed woman. I'll be glad
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  Speaker 1: to send it to you twin in nineteen twenty eight.
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  Speaker 1: No recently. And is that the only docks and murder
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  Speaker 1: you know of? Well, docksins are small dogs. That's yes
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  Speaker 1: or no, that's a yes or nogwash? Yeah, thank you,
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  Speaker 1: thank you, Jason Osans. You could send that to me, Penny,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm not buying it. Dude, a little and tiny.
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  Speaker 1: They ain't jumping on a nine year old and going
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  Speaker 1: They're not going for the first She probably got that
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  Speaker 1: at the grocery store from that article. That always has Elvison,
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  Speaker 1: an alien on front, Dockson's Attack, Gang of Wild Dots,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: and Maze. Yeah, I'm magazine. The lady's name is Tracy Garcia,
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  Speaker 1: as she was killed by seven Docksins outside her home
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  Speaker 1: in Oklahoma, Nancy. Just to add to your statistics, another
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  Speaker 1: thing that pitbulls make up is they make up a
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  Speaker 1: huge part of the population of shelters in this country
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  Speaker 1: because people think, Oh, I'm gonna get a pit bull
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  Speaker 1: and I'm gonna look like a badass and I'm gonna
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  Speaker 1: walk around town. Did you actually just say ass on
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the air? Did I mean if I could get my
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: hands around your neck? As much as I work with
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  Speaker 1: a children, not to say they can't even say f
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  Speaker 1: A art or g O s h oh no, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: they can do that when they move away from home.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: But here you jump up with your degree. I always
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: say children people that curs is because they don't have
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: a very big vocabulary and that's all they know how
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: to say. But I think I think badly you have
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: a doctorate. I think Penny would agree though, that not
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: only I mean, in addition to the horrific damage that
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: this does to people, this is horrible dog ownership. This
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  Speaker 1: is horribly ears. If you love dogs, this is because
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  Speaker 1: those dogs do need to be put there. Excuse me?
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Can you cut his mind real quick? Because I love children?
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I love children. You know the dog comes in sadly
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  Speaker 1: a distant, distant fifth or sixth place in our family, Levi, page,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Can I just get the facts and I'll leave it
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  Speaker 1: to doctor Brian Russell and Penny Douglas for to dcat out. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: Jason Oceans is in the mix too. Go ahead, LEVI.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: What happened, Well, just don't pick on German shepherds or childs.
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  Speaker 1: Those are my breeds, but their next Well, this nine
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  Speaker 1: year old little girl was out riding her bike, Nancy,
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  Speaker 1: and she probably never would have thought that she would
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  Speaker 1: end up dying in a pull of blood. And that's
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  Speaker 1: exactly what happened. And the neighbors were throwing bricks at
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: these dogs. One neighbor shot one of the dogs and
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: killed it. Her father was screaming, my baby, my baby,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: And in a horrific account, Deborah Golden, a neighbor that
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: lived nearby, she heard all this commotion. She walked out
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  Speaker 1: there and witness this poor little girl. Emma Hernandez nearly decapitated,
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  Speaker 1: I can barely say it, and laying in a pull
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  Speaker 1: of blood. She was rushed to the hospital and unfortunately
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: she was pronounced dead. And now this thirty three year
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  Speaker 1: old Pierre Cleveland is in big trouble. You know, I
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: can't believe people are whining because the dog owner has
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: been charged with a criminal offense. Take a listen to
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: w x y Z Matt Smith. Neighbors tell me there
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  Speaker 1: had been complaints about the dogs in the past. We're
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  Speaker 1: waiting to hear back from police on that front. But
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  Speaker 1: right now, what's most important is what was lost. Every
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  Speaker 1: parent would be proud of today. Family and friends come
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  Speaker 1: and go from this makeshift memorial, just a short walk
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  Speaker 1: from the Alliott Central and Smart where Emma's life was ended.
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  Speaker 1: Some like this neighbor even showing up with stuffed animals,
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  Speaker 1: bringing family members to tears or reminder that this is
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: a hurt that will linger for those who knew this
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: sweet girl. You know, you're talking about a nine year
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  Speaker 1: old girl who was just out there playing and now
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  Speaker 1: she's not here. As I said, the family just too
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: shaken up to talk on camera right now, but they
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  Speaker 1: do need help, and that comes in the form of donations,
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: if possible, to help pay for the funeral expenses for
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: this unexpected tragedy involving little Emma. You know, I'm looking
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: at the stats right now, and this breed pit bull
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  Speaker 1: is six point five percent of the total US dog
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: population and accounts for sixty six percent of total fatalities.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Second place Rottweiler forty five fatal attacks same time period.
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  Speaker 1: German shepherd third with twenty. But all I can think
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  Speaker 1: about is this beautiful little girl and what her last
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  Speaker 1: moments on earth were like. I'm also thinking about the
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: fact that there had been previous incidents. Leavi Page, can
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: you tell me about the owner and what are his charges.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: He is being charged with second degree murder, manslaughter and
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: having a day dangerous animal caused the death to another.
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  Speaker 1: His bond was set at two million dollars. He has
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: no criminal history, and his lawyer is using that to
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: try to paint a sympathetic picture of him, the fact
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  Speaker 1: that he has no criminal history. But wait a minute,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it true Steve Lampley that there were previous incidents
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  Speaker 1: where the neighbors begged him to do something about the
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  Speaker 1: dogs and he did not. Just Nancy there were several
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  Speaker 1: unadditioned what you mentioned earlier. These dogs, these same dogs
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  Speaker 1: also killed I don't know how many numerous puppies in
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  Speaker 1: Cleveland's on home. As I understand, so, animal control was called.
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  Speaker 1: They tried to make contact, they didn't. I think in
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: that case, animal control dropped the ball because when they
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: didn't make contact, they dropped. They dropped in the efforts
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  Speaker 1: to contact and correct the situation. But this is not
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the first time these dogs have gotten out. Hi, guys.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace here, a beautiful mom of two. In fact,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: I call her a Reese Witherspoon look alike because in
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of pictures that's exactly who she looks like.
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  Speaker 1: The mother of two beautiful little children, including an eight
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  Speaker 1: year old little girl, is found dead in a bloody
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: bathtub a slip and fall, and her eight year old
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  Speaker 1: daughter Anna is the one that found her this Saturday,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: six o'clock Eastern, five Central on Oxygen in Justice with
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace, we investigate the death of Shelley Danishevsky because
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I do not believe this was a slip and a fall,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: and from what I can see, there has been a
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: grave injustice on many levels. Please join us in a
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: search for the truth. This Saturday, six pm Eastern, five
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: Central Injustice with Nancy Grace. Thanks guys, Crime Stories with
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace. You know, in cases like this that are
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: so sad and so just horrific, people want to know more.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: They want to know who owned the dogs, what kind
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: of person is he, what is his name, what does
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: he look like? But this case is all about Emma
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: and what happened to her. And the judge made that
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: crystal clear. Cartwell said, bond in the amount of two
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: million dollars cash notes percent, not early or administrative release.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Two million dollars. Yes, that is the bond set by
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: this judge for a thirty three year old Pierre Cleveland.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: This during his video arrangement inside thirty six District Court.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Cleveland is who law enforcement points to as the person
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: responsible for ending the young life of nine year old
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Emma Hernandez. They say it was his three dogs that
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: maulled the little girl to death in Southwest Detroit. His
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: attorney pleading to the court, I know this is a
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: serious charge for one he has absolutely no prior telany
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: history Lessoever, yet the Wayne County Project's Office has charged
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Cleveland with second degree murder, dangerous animal causing death, and
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: in voluntary men's loss. You were hearing from of XYZ
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: reporter Andrea Aisen Guys in the last hours. Emma's family
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: gathers at a church on the city's west side to
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: say goodbye to a nine year old little girl. The
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: place was full of pink and purple flowers, Emma's favorite colors.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: They decorated the entryway of the church doors. As people
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: stream in and out saying goodbye, church bells ringing to
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: be heard throughout the neighborhood. Every seat was full, long
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: pauses as people summon the strength to keep talking. It
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: was overwhelming the pain with a mother standing over a
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: tiny white casket just She had just come home from
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: a doctor's visit on Monday morning and was riding around
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: the block on her bike when she turned down an
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: alley near her home on Central Three pitbulls leaping over
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: a fence to attack her. These pitbulls withstood neighbors throwing
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: bricks or anything they could get their hands on to
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: try to stop them. Her dad gave her CPR and
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: rushed her to the hospital, but her neck was mortally wounded.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: The Wayne County Medical Examiner says cod cause of death
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: a fracture to the cervical spine that means her neck
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: was broken. The attack was so horrific that counseling services
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: were offered to the emergency responders. The family so distraught,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: but you could see it coming. Take a listen to
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: this and you will see how they feel very differently
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: on how the punishment should fit. Feel It's crown. Bennett
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: was harboring dogs. He knew to be vicious, he knew
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: to be aggressive. Bennett knew that a week prior to
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: his dogs killing and the Hernandez, one of his dogs
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: killed a puppy in his home and one of the
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: dogs killed multiple puppies. I just have a very brief
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: statement from the family. The family is just praying for
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: that precious child, Okay, and we think at this time
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: it would be inappropriate to answer any more questions involving this. Okay. Well,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: I did ask him a question. I asked him what
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: he thought about that bond. He called it outrageous. What
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: would happened to Emma is outrageous that two million dollar bond. Okay,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: back to you, Penny Douglas, fur I guess you're still
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: defending the dogs. Oh, absolutely, I don't. I think it's
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: the owner that's at fault, not the dogs. They should
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: have been properly restrained. I've got very big dogs. As
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: you already said, you don't see my dogs doing it. Yeah,
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: you're right, because you've got him under locking chain inside
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: that house. What happens to you they didn't have never
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: been under chain. I mean a chain on the front door.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: A chain on the front door. Do you ever take
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: him out for a walk? Yes, absolutely, when in the
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: dead of nights so they can't attack anybody. No, they
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: don't attack other people. They're good dogs and they're with me.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: They're very well trained. They've had other dogs run right
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: up to them and they do nothing. All I saw
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: his teeth when I came to your front door. Leavi
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Page Crime online dot Com investigative reporter tell me about
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the previous incidents that the whole neighborhood knew about. Is
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: it true somebody tried to burn them the owner's house down. Yeah.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: People were very upset Nancy because his dogs had killed puppies,
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: they had been aggressive with people in the past. They'd
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: gotten lose because his fence was not properly secured, and
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the victim in this case, Emma Hernandez, her own father
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: had had a confrontation with him before the attack about
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: keeping his dogs secluded in that fence and curing the
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: fence so they could not get out. This is so
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: negligent on his partners. Explain to me the legal theory,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Jason Oceans, how they are charging the owner of the dogs.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: How is that happening to Pierre Cleveland. Well, in different jurisdictions,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: this would be criminally negligent homicide. Certainly, he knows from
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: previous encounters of his dogs having blood on their hands
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: with other animals. He knows about the condition. It's no
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: different than than driving your car and a you know,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: eight ninety miles an hour down a side street and
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: you were just you know, joy riding. So he's aware
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: of that. These are not Dotson's the breed itself, and
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: they're big dogs. He's aware of this. That's enough for
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: a negligent homicide. Maybe some could question the amount of
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: bond because bond is to return to court and he's
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: got no priors. That's a different story whatsoever. But as
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: far is the negligent homicide, absolutely that's a straight up
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: that there's there's no dispute about that, Nancy. Doctor Brian Russell, lawyer, psychologist,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: host of IDs hit series Fatal Vowels. This owner Pierre Cleveland,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: apparently was warned over and over and over and did nothing.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: In fact, there had been an argument with him just
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: the week before about the dogs. Yeah, there's a personality
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: type Nancy that I've seen in my own life that
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: actually sort of gets off on the intimidation factor that
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: their dogs create with other people. There's a guy who
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: lives here in my small town in Kansas who rescues
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: pitbulls who otherwise would be killed in shelters. Obviously, he
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: has a place in his heart for these dogs. But
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: what he'll do is, well, what he used to do
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: is he would walk them around town, multiple at a time,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: and he would let them run at people, snarl at people.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: He would walk past crowded patios where people were drinking
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: and eating, and he would let them go right up
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: to the fence and her and he would sit there
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and smile at how people would get intimidated. They would
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: get up and move back. And one time he let
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: them run up on my dog, and I said to
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: him I said, you know, you obviously love these animals.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: You live in a state where a lot of us
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: carry somebody's going to shoot one of these dogs if
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: you continue to let them do this. This is a salt.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: This is putting people in reasonable fear for their own
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: lives and the lives of their pets. And he actually,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: to his credit, every time I've ever seen him since
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: he crosses the street. But there's a personality type and
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: it sounds like this owner may be that that actually
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: gets off on the fact that they're scaring the hell
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: out of everybody. Clive Stories with Nancy Grace. The man
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: who owned the pit bulls who attacked the girl, Pierre Cleveland,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: is now facing a number of charges that includes second
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and dangerous animal causing death. On Thursday,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: we saw it all unfold in court. The court will
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: said bond in the maount of two million dollars past arte,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: no tempers. Bennett knew that a week prior to his
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: dogs killing Emma Hernandez, one of his dogs killed a
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: puppy in his home. Nobody wants to see a child
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: getting killed, especially in such a brutal way. You are
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: hearing coverage from ABC Action News Channel seven around the
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: time of the funeral of this nine year old little
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: girl to Steve lamplay detective joining Steve, I don't understand
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: why the dogs were not taken away when the first
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: claim against the dogs occurred in my cave. In the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: cases of the times I've been out on animal complainting,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: God knows how many of those I've been on, we
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: would require that the dog owner remedy the situation then,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: whether it's bringing the dogs inside the house, take it
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: off somewhere else, And that could vary by officer, that
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: could vary by state, They could vary by law. I
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: don't know the situation there, but I know in my case,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: we required remedy right then. You know, the mother of
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: this little girl, Emma Hernandez, release a statement and she
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: wants this to be a wake up call to dangerous
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: dog owners and lawmakers after her daughter out riding a bike,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: was knocked off, attacked by three pit bulls and murdered
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: straight out to Penny Douglas fur you know the owner
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: is now being charged with a degree murder. I understand,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: And do you think that's right or wrong? He was wrong?
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Nancy but so was law enforcement. They should have done
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: something with the first incident. You have to go to court,
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: and if your dog is found to be dangerous, they
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: not only have to be in a fench yard, they
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: have to be inside a fence, inside the fence, and
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: if they ever go out, they're required. I had a
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: question for you, Penny Douglas fur Um. You know I
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: made my children watch this movie. They grew to love them.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: The Sinbad movies have you seen all of You actually
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: have to order the DVD and they always have some
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: crazy monsters, you know, like a seven headed hydra or
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: a sea monster and all the old sinbads and Jason
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and the Argonaut and the Golden Fleece. Why would you
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: even want a monster behemoth dog that you have to
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: put inside offense, inside offense, inside offense, I mean why, Well,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: that's whenever the dog has been declared dangerous. And the
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: problem is by then the person that owns the dog
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: is probably already attached to the dog. If not, they
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: put the dog down. I've had people that have put
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: the dog down, but you have to do that to
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: protect the public. If the dog is declared dame. Well,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: this is what I know. I know that that condition
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: of this nine year old girl's body was so upsetting
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: that the mts had to get therapy. Take a listen
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: to NBC Forged your mont Terry. What happened in this
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: alley is senseless and even even the investcut is torn
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: by the crime scene. Sorry for me not to cry.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: So it's tough, real tough. You know, you're talking about
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: a nine year old girl who was just out their
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: plan and now she's not here. Now, we did reach
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: out to this little gros family, and family members were
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: just simply too distraught to talk on camera. As for
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the dogs owners, that owner, the young man is in
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: police custody as charges are pending. And when then the
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: last fifteen minutes fifteen to twenty minutes, the fire department
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: was at the home in question where those dogs escape from.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Apparently someone potentially through something flammable at this home, trying
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: to potentially set it on fire. But thankfully that house
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: did not catch fire. As you can see, some tensions
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: in this neighborhood and light of everything that happened here tonight.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Right now, we are waiting to see what happens in
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: court Levi page what comes next for this dog? This
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: monster Dog Devil Dog owner. Well, he has to go
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: through the legal proceedings, Nancy. He's lawyered up. He has
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a lawyer, and the lawyer is really pushing home the
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: fact that this guy doesn't have a criminal record. But
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: after he got arrested, Wait a minute, Wait a minute,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: neither did Scott Peterson. Jason Oceans neither did Drew Peterson.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Neither did Well, I just wanted to say, after he
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: got arrested, Nancy, he sent a text to a friend
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: to come get his marijuana plants out of it. Okay,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: you know what, Um, I'm so glad you told me that,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Jason Oceans. That changes everything. No, no, they save the plants.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: But uh uh it doesn't you know you you referenced
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: the Scott Peterson. Uh this clearly different relative uh to
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: the to the Peterson case. Uh you know, capital murder
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: versus you know, seemingly perhaps an overcharge but more appropriately
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: criminally named homicide. That that overcharge, Well, that he was
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: worn and Jackie Howard, with her apparent knowledge of the
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: drug trade, says that's why he had the dogs to
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: protect his pot. There you what about that Oceans? That
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: that would that would be that too? If if that
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: was the purpose of that, then that would be a factor,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: that would be an aggravating factor. Then it wasn't just
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: criminally negligent, but there was purposefulness in having those wild animals. Uh,
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: you know, on the unfettered access to the neighborhood. Uh
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: And for Penny. For Penny, I just want to say,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: it didn't matter that the father had a confrontation. Uh
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: and and and the father should have known better than
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to let his girl out. What about the rest of
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: the community that weren't aware of it. It's not just
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: the father's things. Who might have known that if everybody
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: else well that but you had referenced that, you had
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: referenced that earlier. That the father should have known better
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: for the daughter, Kate, that's the whole community too. That
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: man was responsible the safety of the community. Let me see,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I'm telling about the story I read said the father
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: had gotten into a fight with him the day before
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: because he knew the dogs were getting out. If I
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: knew that there were a pack of dogs loose in
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: my neighborhood, I would not allow my child out until
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: the police help. The way Penny, he did not know
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: that they were loose. He knew that they had gotten
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: out in the past, that they had killed the puppy
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: inside the dog owners home, and he wanted the fence fortified,
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: was my understanding, Leavi Page. Yeah, you're absolutely correct. They
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: kept getting out of the fence and that's why he
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: had the confrontation with him about But even if the
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: dogs were roaming out, he's not to blame for his
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: daughter dying. Guys, we wait as justice unfolds for the
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: dog owner, thirty three year old Pierre Cleveland, and right
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: now my thoughts with the family of nine year old
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Emma Nancy Grace's crime story signing off goodbye friend,