PENNSYLVANIA -- On her drive back to her Connecticut home, Elizabeth A. Brown was asked how her son was.
"How ya doin,' big guy?" she asked.
"He feels good," she relayed over her cell phone.
Brown and her 10-year-old son, Ajia Brown, had been in York County earlier on Monday for the authorization of their civil settlement for a savage dog attack in June 2010.
Ajia, then 8, was seriously injured when two pit bulls mauled him in the 400 block of Pleasant Street in Hanover.
According to Hanover Borough Police Department reports, the dogs escaped a gated and fenced yard and repeatedly bit the child, who had been chasing fireflies, chewing off parts of both ears and tearing a large part of scalp away.
Brown also was bitten when she threw herself on top of her son. Neighbors with garden hoses and a shovel were able to distract the dogs long enough for Ajia and his mother to escape.
According to the Browns' attorney, Thomas J. Newell, Ajia underwent 17 surgeries to reconstruct his ears and cover scalp wounds.
"It cannot be understated, literally, she put her life on the line when she jumped on top of her son," Newell said.
The dogs' owner, Chester L. Little, was charged with simple assault and reckless endangerment, along with a number of summary dog law violations.
In April, Judge Craig T. Trebilcock dismissed most of those charges at trial for lack of evidence supporting the commonwealth's claim that Little knew his dogs were dangerous.
Trebilcock did fine Little $1,000 for harboring a dangerous dog, when he refused to turn one of the dogs over to police after the attack. Police had shot the other dog at the scene.
Monday, the Browns settled with the insurance company for the homeowner, Little's mother Marjorie Nicholson, where the attack occurred. Nicholson was named as the defendant in the suit because Newell was able to establish her "daily involvement with the dogs," he said.
Newell said the insurance carrier agreed to pay its liability policy limit of $500,000. He said, before expenses, that amount was divided with $450,000 going to Ajia and the balance to his mother.
Nicholson said she was unaware of the settlement and declined to comment.
Under the agreement, Ajia's portion, after paying legal expenses and medical bills, will be placed into a structured annuity account that will begin paying out to him at age 18. He is guaranteed a total of $406,000 by 2027.
Brown said she still expects Ajia to earn scholarships to attend college and have the money when he graduates.
"We are happy with the outcome, extremely happy," she said. "Mostly we're happy it's over. It definitely made us stronger people. We had to keep our heads up through all of the doctors and the numerous surgeries."
(ydr.com - Oct 2, 2012)
