Alabama girl killed by pack of canines; owner charged with manslaughter

An worker of the Alabama Department of Public Well being was killed by a pack of canine in the northwestern a part of the state last week as she was responding to a report about one other assault involving the identical dogs earlier in the week, the Franklin County Sheriff's Workplace said Friday on Facebook.

Jacqueline Summer Beard was pronounced useless Friday by the Franklin County coroner after local residents known as the police to report a suspicious automobile, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers found the automotive with Beard's body inside it in a rural area outdoors Purple Bay, near the Mississippi line, in response to the Fb put up.

Beard is believed to have been making an attempt to contact the canine's owner — whom the sheriff's office recognized as Brandy Dowdy, 39 — when the canine killed her, the sheriff's workplace stated.

AL.com, the web site of a number of Alabama newspapers, reported that Beard was a 58-year-old environmental supervisor and a longtime employee of the Public Well being Department. It reported that on Friday morning, she was following up on an incident earlier within the week wherein the canine attacked a lady who was walking. The woman stays hospitalized in Mississippi, AL.com reported.

When officers arrived at the scene, several dogs started attacking the residents, inflicting one of them to sustain minor accidents and some of the canine to be euthanized instantly, the sheriff's office mentioned. Officers then discovered Beard's body within the automobile, the sheriff's workplace said.

Dowdy was charged with manslaughter and is being held with out bail, public records show.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office couldn't instantly be reached for remark.

The Public Well being Division didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.