Her daughter, Marilyn Stiles Shoemaker, spent the rest of her life fighting to hold owners responsible; passing away just weeks before the Texas House voted to give a law in her mother's name even more power.
"Little things will come up, make you think about your mom and you start crying," Shoemaker told News Channel 25 in February of 2006. "But I think when I get involved in this and I get involved in trying to make these laws right, it helps me."
In 2007, Texas passed "Lillian's Law" in her mother's name. The law made it a second degree felony for owners of dangerous dogs if their pets escape and kill someone, with the penalty up to 20 years in prison.
The proposed law H.B. 716 would make it a first degree felony if the person killed is a child or elderly person, raising the maximum penalty to the possibility of life in prison.
Lawmakers who authored the bill say the penalties in "Lillian's Law" were inadequate, and serious cases continued even after the law came into effect.
Two prominent cases in Rusk County in East Texas convinced State Representative Chuck Hopson, a pediatrician, that more had to be done. The death of 10-year-old Justin Clinton in 2009 and 2-year-old Kaden Muckleroy in 2010 led Hopson to team with Representative Mark Shelton to strengthen the penalties in cases where the victims of attacks are children or elderly.
Clayton Stewart, Chief of Staff to Rep. Shelton, says even with the tougher language, prosecutors would still have to clearly demonstrate that the dogs were known to be aggressive and owners neglected to properly look after them.
"A lot of it is about being a responsible owner, and this bill does not affect responsible dog owners who use common sense to take care of their pets."
The bill cleared the House after a third reading Wednesday afternoon, and will now head to the Texas Senate.
Marilyn Shoemaker, the driving force behind the original law, passed away in April. Her family says that she would have been pleased.
CASE FILE ON LILLIAN STILES:
On November 25, 2005, five dogs belonging to Jose Hernandez got loose. They escaped their pen, which was behind a short fence, only three feet tall. These were Pit Bull / Rottweiler mixes -- the two breeds of dog that have been responsible for over half of the canine inflicted human deaths in recent years.
The dogs headed down the street. 76-year-old Lillian Stiles was gardening in her front lawn. Stiles and her husband lived on 10 acres in Thorndale, about 70 miles west of College Station. The dogs either dragged her from the seat of her lawnmower, or took her down as she stepped from it or onto it. The dogs mauled and mutilated her to the point that she was beyond recognition.
"She was so disfigured, they didn't realize she was a woman," said her daughter, Marilyn Shoemaker. "They thought maybe she had been run over by the mower."
She died as a result of the attack. Her husband, Jack Stiles, shot one of the dogs. The rest were captured and euthanized.
Jose Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury on the charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Hernandez testified that he had no idea his animals were capable of such brutality. He admitted none of his animals had ever been seen by a veterinarian and hadn't been vaccinated. Witnesses for the defense testified that - in their opinions - Hernandez' dogs were not aggressive and were not trained to be aggressive.
The jury found Hernandez not guilty.
(KXXV - May 4, 2011)
[NOTE: I do not know if these are the actual dogs involved in the mauling death of Mrs Stiles. However, they were featured in the video clip accompanying the story.]
Earlier:
