Man's dogs fatally maul woman, suspect arrested
A Texas man was arrested after his dogs fatally attacked his neighbor, with a history of disturbing others, according to the Houston Police Department.
Marshall Garrett, 38, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with three counts of criminal negligent failure to secure his dogs after his three Staffordshire mixes fatally mauled 65-year-old Harriette Phillips, according to court documents filed on April 9.
The attack occurred on March 23 in Houston, when Phillips was walking toward the left side of her backyard, and it "appeared that the defendant's dogs had broken through her fence," the court records said.
Phillips' home security cameras reviewed by police show her "scanning her backyard looking for something" and hitting her fence with a hammer. Then, the dogs "returned through the broken fence and attacked her." She began screaming for help and attempted to use her hammer as a form of defense, the court records said.
She fell to the ground, and the dogs began "mauling her head, neck area, arms/elbows and other parts of her body until the complainant was unable to move anymore or screamed for help," the court records said.
Garrett did not witness the attacks but "realized what occurred afterward and called 911," court documents said.
On the same day as this attack, another neighbor texted Garrett that he saw the dogs in Phillips' yard, to which he replied: "Oh lord, I'm about to get it resolved," the court records said.
In that same month, the dogs also nipped the finger of another neighbor when she was trying to fix a hole in her fence, the court records said.
All three dogs were euthanized after the attack, the court records said.
Garrett already has an established criminal record prior to this incident, as he and a female suspect, Latrecia Washington, were charged with murder last year when they fatally assaulted a man outside a Family Dollar store, according to court records.
On Oct. 29, Garrett approached 69-year-old Alton Martin from behind and punched him in the back of the head, according to court records.
The altercation appears to have stemmed from a dispute over whether jewelry Martin had sold to Washington was authentic or fake. Martin died from his injuries, court records said.
Garrett was arrested for this crime and was previously released on bond, according to court records. As of Tuesday, Garrett is back in police custody.
