Dennis RomeroSee also: Jogger Dies After She's Attacked by 4 Pit Bulls East of Palmdale.
Remember that horrific attack earlier this month by a pack of pit bulls that ended the life of a jogger in Littlerock near Palmdale?
A neighbor who happened to own six pit bulls (and allegedly had a marijuana grow operation at his house when deputies came knocking) was charged this week with murder, cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession for sale of a
controlled substance, and assault with a deadly weapon, prosecutors said:
Twenty-nine-year-old Alex Donald Jackson was arrested at 7:30 a.m. today at his Littlerock home based on a felony warrant triggered by the charges, according to authorities and sheriff's inmate data.
Credit: Jackson via the L.A. County Sheriff's Department
He was being held in lieu of more than $1 million bail and was expected in court tomorrow, according to the district attorney's office and inmate data.
The victim, 63-year-old Pamela Devitt, was jogging on the morning of May 9 when she was attacked by four pit bulls, sheriff's officials said.
The cause of death, according to a sheriff's statement: “blood loss attributed to sharp force trauma.”
A responding deputy actually found one of the dogs still mauling her and fired off a round, at least according to the sheriff's initial report. A subsequent statement, issued today, says the deputy chased the dog (to no avail), but doesn't mention gunfire.
Devitt succumbed to her injuries en route to a hospital, deputies said.
A tip from an Animal Care and Control worker led cops to Jackson's home in the 37300 block of 115th Street in Littlerock, where deputies say they found six pit bulls and two mixed-breed dogs as well as a marijuana grow operation.
It wasn't immediately clear to authorities, however, if those were the dogs involved in the attack.
Now the sheriff's department says in a statement that at least some of the pit bulls “had what appeared to be blood on their coats and muzzles.” DNA tests linked that blood to the victim, deputies said.
Prosecutors say authorities have received three other reports of Jackson's pit bulls allegedly attacking people in the neighborhood since the beginning of the year.
He faces life behind bars if he's convicted.
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