Aurora – Investigators walking through the home where a 10-year-old boy was mauled by three pit bulls last month found a residence in “complete shambles and disarray,” according to an arrest-warrant affidavit for the boy’s mother.
Piles of dog feces filled a room where dogs were kept, a strong stench of urine permeated the home and rotting garbage overflowed the kitchen and garage, according to the document. One dog was emaciated.
The boy’s father, who doesn’t live at the home, had previously expressed concern about the pit bulls, the affidavit says.
The boy’s mother, Reneé Denise Muniz, 37, is expected to be formally charged with felony child abuse resulting in serious injury and with three misdemeanors stemming from the Nov. 2 attack that seriously injured her son, Gregg Jones. The felony carries a range of two to six years in prison.
Muniz’s daughter, Danielle Denise Carson, 20, will be charged with two misdemeanors: cruelty to animals and unlawful ownership of a dangerous dog.
The attack left Gregg Jones without a left arm and with permanently disfiguring facial injuries. Doctors say he may never speak or eat the same again.
The 28-page affidavit shows a detailed investigation into the attack that occurred when Gregg scaled the 6-foot wooden fence into his backyard to use an unlocked rear entry.
He was confronted by the dogs, 6-month-old Bobo, 18- month-old Dozier and 17- month-old Pepper.
The boy’s mother and sister told authorities the dogs had never been aggressive toward the family and described one of them curling up next to Gregg while he watched cartoons.
Muniz told authorities she had warned her son to call out the dogs’ names before jumping the fence and later said his biggest mistake was not allowing the dogs to smell him. But the boy apparently told his mom that he needed to use the bathroom and ran toward the door.
Firefighters who responded to the scene found a boy whose “entire face, throat and arms and every part of his body appeared to have been bitten and mauled and partially devoured by the dogs.” They were surprised he was alive and said his face “looked like a skeleton that had been eaten away.”
Michael Allshouse, a physician at Children’s Hospital, told police that having pit bulls in a house with children is like “leaving loaded guns around” and that Gregg’s injuries were the worst he had ever seen as a trauma surgeon. He called the family “irresponsible” and “careless” to have so many pit bulls.
Detectives also interviewed Victoria Voith, an animal-behavior expert, who said squalor in the home wouldn’t contribute to the dog’s aggressiveness, but neglect and abuse would.
The affidavit said a file has been opened on the family by the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services.
Katrina Seymour, DHS spokeswoman, couldn’t speak about a specific case but said a report of neglect would trigger an investigation “to determine if the situation is dire enough to remove the children from the home. … The key phrase is always what’s in the best interest of the child.”
Johanna Jones, Gregg’s aunt who has been speaking for the family, said Tuesday, “It’s just so very sad.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
