California jogger killed by dogs identified

CALIFORNIA -- Southern California authorities have released the name of a jogger who was killed by pit bulls in a Mojave Desert community.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office identified her Friday as 63-year-old Pamela Marie Devitt, of Littlerock.

She died Thursday after being attacked by at least four dogs.

Sheriff's investigators later seized eight dogs from a nearby home, whose resident was arrested on suspicion of growing marijuana. Authorities say the owner was previously cited because one dog attacked a horse.

Neighbors told KTLA-TV that the dogs had been aggressive in the past, and that they had video of them hopping the fence where they lived.

One neighbor said the dogs had attacked a man on a horse with two children earlier in the week.
"If there's people on horses or elderly people walking, they attack them," said the neighbor, who did not want to be identified.

"It's really scary," Diane Huffman, of Littlerock, told KABC-TV. "I don't know what to think. I really think I'm going to be getting a gun to protect myself."

DNA tests will determine if the dogs were involved in the attack.

County animal control Director Marcia Mayeda says the six pit bulls and two mixed-breeds are being housed separately at a Lancaster shelter under rabies observation. She says they haven't acted aggressively.

(WFMY - May 10, 2013)