Dog owner could be charged in Henderson man's death

NORTH CAROLINA -- A dog owner could face a murder charge if authorities determine his pit bull was responsible for a Henderson man's death last month, authorities said Tuesday.

Person County deputies found the body of Eugene Cameron, 65, under a carport at 1189 Semora Road, west of Roxboro, on May 26. Family members said he was checking on the house while his friend was out of town.

Witnesses said that Cameron was found naked, with his clothes balled up beside him, and bloody dog paw prints surrounded him. He had a severe injury to his right arm that could have caused him to bleed out.

Sheriff Dewey Jones said preliminary autopsy results indicate that the injuries that killed Cameron were consistent with a dog bite, and county animal control officers seized an 8-year-old pit bull named DMX from Antonio Ford, who lives next to the house where Cameron was found dead.

Analysts with the state crime lab and the FBI are testing blood and hair samples, and a veterinarian plans to make a casting of DMX's teeth to compare it with the wounds found on Cameron, the sheriff said.

If authorities determine that DMX is to blame for Cameron's death, Person County prosecutors are willing to pursue a manslaughter charge against Ford, Jones said. The charge might be upgraded to second-degree murder if investigators can establish that the dog was known to be violent, the sheriff said.

Residents have said that the dog sometimes roams the neighborhood and tries to attack their dogs.

Ford maintains that DMX was caged up the night Cameron was killed and that he believes a person or a wild animal is responsible for the attack. He said investigators should get bite impressions from other dogs in the neighborhood as well.

(WRAL - June 6, 2012)

Earlier:

• Mysterious death prompts Person authorities to seize dog