Authorities are investigating the death of a 13-year-old Navajo Nation girl who was mauled to death by a neighbor’s dogs. “They found her in a ball,” her mother said.
13-year-old girl mauled to death by pack of dogs during walk
Lyssa Rose Upshaw died while on a walk near her home at Fort Defiance on the Navajo Nation. She was found in a ball, her clothes in tatters and her legs “bitten off,” said her mother, Marissa Jones.
From the beginning, Jones believed her daughter had been mauled to death by her neighbor’s two dozen dogs, and described the animals as “evil.”
“Those dogs killed my baby,” Jones said “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Now, an autopsy has confirmed that the 13-year-old died from injuries sustained in a multi-dog attack. Although Lyssa’s death was ruled accidental, the investigation into her death remains open.
“The case is pretty far from being closed, far from being set aside as an accident or a civil matter or anything like that,” Navajo Police Department Criminal Investigations Director Michael Henderson told the AP.
“We’re still trying to understand the case very aggressively to the extent that there are criminal elements tied to what happened.”
Lyssa’s death reignited the debate over stray dogs on tribal lands. She is not the first person to be attacked by these animals, known as “rez dogs.”
According to the AP, tribal lawmakers recently passed a resolution to establish criminal penalties for violent dog attacks.
Authorities are investigating the death of a 13-year-old Navajo Nation girl who was mauled to death by a neighbor’s dogs. “They found her in a ball,” her mother said.
