13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Woman mauled to death by pet dog

Woman mauled to death by pet dog

Kevin Rader/Eyewitness News

Connersville - A woman died after being mauled by her own dog. The dog attack happened in Connersville, Fayette County.

The well-maintained front yard masks the violence that took place behind it. Even watching Thelma Hartman ride her three-wheel bicycle down the back alley, it's hard to pick up a scent of violence.

"They always came to the wall. I kind of got leery about but I was hoping they would never come through the fence," said Hartman, referring to two dogs who now find themselves housed at the Fayette County Animal Shelter after the male dog mauled 63-year-old Phyllis Carroll in her own backyard.

From a nearby balcony someone discovered the horror of what had happened below and immediately began calling for neighbors to come and help. Bill DeMoss tried to.

"I came out and the boy on the landing was screaming and hollering to help her and I came down and tried to get over the fence and I was up on the fence when the police got here. She was down and was not moving so; it was too late when I got here," he said.

"No one heard a thing. No one heard her scream or anything. It was over in a matter of seconds. It happened just that fast," said Bradley Carroll.

Investigators believe the male chow mix grabbed Phyllis Carroll by the arm and pulled her to the ground when she brought the dogs a treat. Eight sets of bite prints were found on her body, including the throat. The coroner determined that Carroll bled to death.

The dogs, which were a gift from another family member, will now be destroyed at the family's request.

"She's the best. She was very caring. Anybody that knew her. She walked all over town. Everyone in town knew her," said Tina Carroll, her daughter-in-law.

Bradley Carroll says he will always cherish the memory of spending Father's Day with his mother. She left his rural Connersville home in the early evening last night to go home and tend to the dogs.