An Aurora woman whose pit bulls attacked and disfigured her 10-year- old son in November pleaded guilty Wednesday to negligent child abuse and cruelty to animals.
Renee Denise Muniz, 37, will avoid jail time if she stays out of trouble. She was facing up to eight years in prison.
Muniz was allowed to plead guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence of four years on child abuse and four years’ probation on the animal- cruelty charge. Two charges of reckless child abuse and ownership of dangerous dogs were dropped. Formal sentencing is scheduled for June 2.
Muniz and her daughter, Danielle Carson, 20, had five pit bulls living with them in southeast Aurora when Muniz’s son, Gregg Jones, 10, climbed over the back fence to enter the house after school Nov. 2. Three of the pit bulls, loose in the backyard, attacked Jones, mauling his face and throat. One of Carson’s dogs had to be shot by police at the scene.
Jones spent a month in the hospital, eventually losing one arm.
Muniz could not be reached, and her attorney declined to comment.
Muniz had been contacted twice before by authorities concerning her dogs. The attack on her son occurred nine days after the Aurora City Council passed an ordinance banning new pit bulls and strictly regulating pit bulls already in the city. The ordinance went into effect a month after the attack.
Muniz suffered a string of misfortunes after the attack on her son. Days later, her landlord evicted her for past-due rent, although a newspaper reader stepped forward and donated the late payment of $1,500.
A month later, Muniz was shot in the chest as she helped a friend move out of a boyfriend’s home. Her boyfriend also was wounded in the shooting. Charles Taylor, 25, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and is scheduled to go to trial this year.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
This story has been corrected, online. Originally, due to a reporting error, it stated that the Arapahoe County district attorney’s office would not comment on the plea agreement. The prosecutor in the case did speak with the Post during the evening after the deal was finalized.
