An elderly Sierra Vista woman and her small dog were mauled to death Friday by a pitbull during an evening stroll while a man was airlifted to Tucson with life-threatening injuries apparently suffered while trying to stop the attack.
Helene Jackson was walking in a residential alley shortly after 6 p.m. when she and her dog were violently attacked by the dog that apparently jumped a cinderblock wall-styled fence of a nearby home.
Jackson, 84, died a short time later at a local hospital with multiple trauma injuries to her limbs, neck, and face. Her dog Lilly was found deceased in the alley, according to the Sierra Vista Police Department.
Meanwhile, Sam Sanches Jr. remains in critical condition at Banner UMC with injuries he suffered in connection with the attack on Jackson.
Sanches, 53, resides in the home from which the dog jumped. A SVPD spokesman says he was being attacked by a dog in the home’s backyard as police arrived.
That dog was killed by officers at the scene as was a second dog, also described by witnesses as a pitbull, which near Jackson. SVPD has not yet clarified which of the two dogs is the one that jumped the fence.
Neighbors told Arizona Daily Independent that a dog from the same home near Meadowlark Drive and Calle Del Norte was involved in an injury attack earlier this year. It is unclear whether the matter was reported to police at the time for consideration of criminal charges.
The dogs’ owners are said to be cooperating with the investigation being led by SVPD Det. Thomas Ransford. Anyone with information about the attack or any related issues is asked to call the detective at (520) 452-7500.
Jackson is survived by her husband Michael, with whom she ran a citizens watchdog group, Cochise County Individual Property Rights Association, for several years while living in the rural community of McNeal. The couple moved to Sierra Vista in 2018.