The owner of two dogs that viciously attacked her adult cousin and severely disfigured an 11-year-old Columbus girl could serve four days in jail, pay $450 in fines and be placed on three years of probation.
If she doesn’t meet probation conditions, she’ll face another 26 days in jail.
But exactly what sentence dog owner Stephanie Ayers will face is on hold for now. Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Mary Kay Fenlon imposed the sentence and then immediately put it on hold because the defense counsel raised a legal question, and prosecutors raised new questions about how many dogs Ayers currently owns.
Fenlon ordered probation conditions that include a three-year ban on owning pets, other than one dog Ayers already has at home.
Fenlon ordered euthanasia of Layla, one of the two pit bulls that attacked Avery Russell and Jessica Henry on June 11, 2024. Animal control officers impounded Layla 455 days ago. Shelter workers are afraid of the pit bull, Franklin County Animal Care and Control Sgt. Lindsey Allen told the court.
Fenlon announced the sentence after hearing from Avery Russell, her mother Drew Russell and her grandmother, Helena Thigpen, and Reynoldsburg City Attorney Chris Shook as well as Ayers’ defense attorney Fred Benton.
Benton described Ayers as law abiding and remorseful.
Shook and the Russell family called for the maximum penalty: 30 days in jail, $850 in fines and a five-year ban on animal ownership.
“Since that day, my daughter has undergone six surgeries, with many more ahead. She has endured nine different types of therapy. She had to relearn how to eat, speak, walk, run. Basic things no child should ever have to fight to regain,” said Drew Russell. “This attack took away some of her innocence.”
Avery asked the judge to impose the maximum $850 fine, send Ayers to jail for 30 days and order euthanasia Layla.
“It’s only a matter of time. History will repeat itself. That dog is a killing machine,” Avery told the court in asking that the dog be put down.
Apollo, a second dog which was deemed dangerous because it had previously bitten two other children, was put down by police on the day of the attack.
In June 2024, Ayers was out running a quick errand when Apollo and Layla attacked and seriously injured her cousin, Jessica Henry, and Avery, who was on a playdate with Henry’s daughter. Henry had taken the girls to Ayers’ house for a family counseling event.
While inside the house to use the restroom, the dogs cornered Avery. She ran out of the Reynoldsburg house to escape the menacing dogs, which chased her to the backyard. Henry followed to try to stop the attack.
Avery lost her ears, suffered puncture wounds and lacerations on her face, neck and arms. Henry was bitten on her neck, ear, shoulder and torso. Both victims required hours of emergency surgeries.
Avery’s fight for survival, recovery and reform was part of a Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and Canton Repository investigation published in March. The report focused on weaknesses in Ohio’s vicious dog laws and how they fail victims of devastating attacks.
In June, the Ohio House unanimously passed Avery’s Law, which calls for changes to the dog laws. The legislation is now pending in the Ohio Senate’s judiciary committee, which is expected to hold hearings this fall.
Under the current Ohio laws, it is rare for a dog owner to face stiff penalties, even when their pet severely injures or kills a human being.
In Pickaway County, a jury convicted a mother-and-son of involuntary manslaughter after their two pit bulls fatally attacked their neighbor in a condo complex in Ashville.
Withers’ two dogs, Apollo and Echo, got out of their condo through a front door with a broken latch and violently attacked Jo Ann Echelbarger, 73.
The Witherses were sentenced to 14 to 19½ years in prison and can apply for judicial release after a decade.
“I wish I could give you more,” Pickaway County Common Pleas Court Judge Matthew Chafin told them. Chafin recommended that they never be allowed to own pets when they get out.
State government reporter Laura Bischoff can be reached at lbischoff@gannett.com and @lbischoff on X.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Owner of dogs that attacked and disfigured 2 people faces 4 days in jail, $450 in fines
Reporting by Laura A. Bischoff, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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