We spoke to the mother of a girl who was previously bitten by a dog at 345 Middle Street.
Tune into WHIO-TV at 5:30 p.m. today, April 27 to hear News Center 7’s John Bedell’s interview with the mother.
In 2011, 9-year-old Dynver Lovett was playing in the yard there when a loose dog from down the block ran up and began to fight with the multiple dogs at that address. The girl was bitten by that loose dog on her arm and leg. She needed 50 stitches and has permanent scarring from the experience.
Her mother Kaneika Lovett said she was never contacted by the county Animal Resource Center and the county has no record of the incident. City police also didn't pursue any charges against the dog's alleged owners James Hastings and Carla Whitt.
Hastings told police that he got rid of the dog by dropping it off near the Humane Society office. Kaneika Lovett said he told her he had the dog put down.
"I wasn't actually sure of (what happened to the dog)," Lovett said, but she never saw it again. Tuesday's incident brought back memories of that day.
"It just touched me," she said of Maurice Brown's death. "I thought 'Oh my God, that could have been us.'"
In the end, the only recourse the Lovetts had was a civil suit, which they won. In 2013, a magistrate found they were owed more than $29,000 for medical and other expenses, plus $150,000 in compensatory damages for the girl's distress.
Hastings died in 2015 and Kaneika Lovett, who has since moved to Miami Twp., said they haven't seen any of that money. Whitt could not be located for comment.
Read more about ARC and Dayton police response to dog attacks in Sunday’s Dayton Daily News.
Multiple times in 2008 and 2012, a dog owner at the same 345 Middle Street was cited for not having a license for his two dogs, both listed as male pit bulls, according to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center.
We are not identifying that dog owner because it is not known if he is the same owner or dogs involved in Tuesday’s deadly dog attack.
In 2015, a complaint was made regarding the welfare of the man’s dogs. An animal resource center employee checked and found both dogs healthy.
He was again warned that he needed to get a dog license.
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