Two Hot Springs Village women arrested earlier this year in a dog attack that killed a 75-year-old Hot Springs Village woman in November were booked into Saline County jail after a jury found them guilty in the attack.
Brande Michelle Coy, 50, was convicted late Wednesday of negligent homicide and sentenced to 60 days in jail after investigators said she released a bull mastiff-pit bull mix dog with a history of violent attacks into an unsecured front yard and then left. Coy was also fined $2,500 and given a year of probation.
She was originally charged with manslaughter, a felony, but the jury convicted Coy of a lesser negligent homicide charge, a Class A misdemeanor.
Coy was also originally charged with unlawful dog attack, but deputy prosecutor Rebecca Bush said her team did not pursue the charge because it would not have added jail time to a felony conviction of manslaughter.
"It was superfluous," she said Thursday.
Emily Ann Coy, 25, was convicted of unlawful dog attack, sentenced to 120 days in jail, fined $2,500 and given a year of probation. The dog -- named Patrone -- belonged to Emily Coy.
On Nov. 21, Patrone attacked Joan Kappen as she walked by the 11 Ornado Lane property where the Coys live, according to an affidavit. Brande Coy heard screams and walked outside to see the dog biting Kappen in the street.
Brande Coy told investigators it took her 30 minutes to get control of the dog and take it back inside, after which she then called 911 and stayed inside while Kappen lay in a ditch by the road with injuries all over her body, the affidavit states. Brande Coy went outside once emergency responders arrived.
Emergency responders treated Kappen and took her to a hospital, where she died the next day.
The dog was impounded by Hot Springs Village Animal Control and later euthanized with Emily Coy's consent. It was from the same litter as another dog that attacked and killed a 5-year-old Jessieville boy in June 2013. That dog belonged to the child's family and was shot after the attack.
Emily Coy's friend, Barbara Lopez, told investigators that Patrone bit her face in 2012, causing injuries below her right eye and below her nose, the affidavit states. Lopez told investigators that Patrone also previously had bitten Emily Coy and had attacked a dog owned by Coy's then-boyfriend, Zack Geiling.
Since the attack, the Saline County Quorum Court has passed an animal-control ordinance for the county's portion of Hot Springs Village that requires dog owners to register their animals with the Hot Springs Village Property Owners Association and vaccinate them.
Metro on 10/10/2014