A 29-year-old man was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday in Lancaster, California on murder and other charges stemming from the mauling death of a 63-year-old female jogger, Pamela Devitt, by his pack of pit bulls, with authorities saying that DNA testing confirmed his dogs attacked her, UPI reported
Alexander Donald Jackson was arrested, and charged with murder, negligent ownership of a mischievous causing death or serious bodily injury, as well as cultivating marijuana, possession for sale of a controlled substance.
Jackson was also charged with a count of assault with a deadly weapon from an incident in January. Since the early part of the year, authorities received at least three other instances of reports of his pit bulls attacking other people.
"We believe there was evidence that he was aware the dogs were vicious and they have attacked before and he knew of the danger they posed," District attorney spokesman Jane Robison said.
Sheriff's deputies searched his home and confiscated his eight dogs one day after the attack. His dogs were comprised of six pit bulls and two mixed breeds. Marijuana was also found growing on his property.
If convicted, Jackson faces up to life in prison, the District Attorney's Office in Lancaster, said. He was being held on $1,050,000 bail.
While jogging, Devitt, the retired office manager suffered 150 to 200 puncture wounds in the fatal attack, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Devitt died en route to a hospital. Sheriff's officials said detectives found Devitt's blood on the muzzle and coats of four of Jackson's eight dogs.
"There's no way I can get the brutality of this out of my head," Devitt's husband, Ben Devitt, told the Los Angeles Times. "The fact that there's animals out there roaming around with that kind of killer instinct, it's just kind of something I can't shake."
Animal control officials took custody of Jackson's dogs, news reports said.
