Full Notification

Suspect Arrested in Death Investigation Involving Attack by Pit Bull Dogs, Littlerock #AV #LASD Homicide

(LASD News Release- Thurs, May 30,2013)

On Thursday, May 9, 2013 at approximately 9:30 AM, Pamela Devitt was walking in the desert by her Littlerock home when she was suddenly attacked by a pack of four pit bull dogs. A passerby saw the dogs mauling the victim and called 9-1-1.

When a Palmdale Sheriff's Station deputy arrived on scene, he saw there was a pit bull still engaged in attacking the victim. The deputy was able to chase the dog away and summoned Los Angeles County Fire paramedics who were in the process of transporting and treating the victim when she succumbed to her injuries.

During their investigation, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide investigators recovered eight dogs (six pit bulls and two mixed breeds), from the Littlerock home of Alex Jackson. Four of the pit bull dogs were believed to be involved in the attack. Further examination of the pit bulls revealed they had what appeared to be blood on their coats and muzzles.

On May 11, 2013, an examination by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office was conducted on Victim Pamela Devitt to determine her cause of death. According to the Coroner’s Office, the cause of death was blood loss attributed to sharp force trauma. The sharp force trauma was caused by the dog attack where the victim sustained approximately 150-200 puncture wounds. DNA tests were conducted on the blood found on the pit bulls by the Scientific Services Bureau (Crime Lab) of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and those tests revealed that the blood on the dogs belonged to the victim, Pamela Devitt.

The case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and on May 29, 2013, the District Attorney's Office filed charges of Murder on 29 year-old Alex Jackson, who is the owner of the dogs.

On Thursday, May 30, 2013, Suspect Jackson was arrested at his Littlerock residence and booked at Palmdale Sheriff’s Station (www.Palmdale.lasd.org) for Murder. His bail is set at $1,050,000.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Lieutenant Corina, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

The unincorporated community of Littlerock is policed by the Palmdale Sheriff's Station (www.Palmdale.lasd.org) of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (www.lasd.org)


Written by:
John Corina, Lieutenant
Homicide Bureau
Detective Division
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
(323) 890-5500

Forwarded by:
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800
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Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

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(Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office News Release- Thurs, May 30,2013)


Littlerock Dog Owner Charged with Murder in Mauling Case

A 29-year-old Littlerock man has been arrested on a felony warrant charging him with murder and owner negligence of an animal causing death in connection with the May 9 fatal mauling of a Palmdale woman by a pack of pit bulls, the District Attorney’s Office announced.

Alex Donald Jackson (6-5-83) will be arraigned sometime Friday at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch, in Department A1, said Deputy District Attorneys Samantha MacDonald and Robert DuFour. He’s being held on $1 million bail.

MacDonald filed case MA059722 on Wednesday charging Jackson with one count of murder in the May 9 fatal mauling of 63-year-old Pamela Devitt, who was out for a jog when she was attacked by four pit bulls belonging to Jackson. MacDonald said since January, authorities received at least three other reports of Jackson’s pit bulls attacking other people.

Jackson, who allegedly had a marijuana grow operation at his Littlerock residence, also was charged with cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession for sale of a controlled substance, and assault with a deadly weapon.

If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.

News Release
Jane Robison
Public Information Officer
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
May 30, 2013


***

PREVIOUS LASD NEWS RELEASES:


*Update* Death Investigation & Search for Vicious Dogs, 116th St. East /Ave. S, Littlerock, Antelope Valley - LASD Homicide
(Sent Thursday May 9th, 2013 :: 10:37 p.m. PDT)



**Update** Death Investigation, Littlerock Victim Identified

The victim who was found being mauled by dogs at 116th Street East and Avenue S, Littlerock, on May 9, 2013, has been identified as 63-year-old Littlerock resident Pamela Marie Devitt. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of her death.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau, with the assistance of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, will determine whether the dogs taken into custody on May 9, 2013 were involved in the death of Mrs. Devitt.

The suspect who was arrested at his Littlerock residence for possession of marijuana for sale on Thursday, May 9, 2013, is 29-year-old Suspect Alex Donald Jackson. His bail is set at $20,000.00.


Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

To read earlier news releases, click on below hyperlink:
http://nixle.com/alert/4999577/

Written by:
Deputy Guillermina Saldaña
Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800


*** Update *** Sent May 8, 2013 - 10:38PM
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide detectives are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 63 year-old female Littlerock resident on 116th Street East and Avenue S, Littlerock, an unincorporated community in the Antelope Valley.

On Thursday, May 9, 2013 at 9:29AM, Palmdale Sheriff’s Station deputies received a phone call stating that a female was being attacked by dogs. When the first deputy arrived, he saw a female being attacked by a Pit Bull dog. The deputy fired rounds from his firearm towards the Pit Bull dog causing the attacking dog to flee Northbound toward the desert. A search for the dogs ensued.

Later in the day, detectives received information from the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) and local residents that led to the service of a residential search warrant on the 37300 block of 115th Street, Littlerock. The search warrant resulted in Animal Control taking possession of eight dogs from the property (6 Pit Bulls and 2 mix breeds).

LASD Homicide Bureau with the assistance of DACC will determine whether the dogs taken into custody were involved in the death of the 63 year-old woman.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death of the 63 year-old female resident of Littlerock.

During the search of the residence, detectives also discovered a “marijuana grow” on the property. A 29 year-old male adult was arrested at the property for Cultivation of Marijuana.

Upon learning of the incident, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department utilized Alert LA County emergency phone system to notify residents of the danger posed by the vicious dogs.

In order to update community members of the active search for the vicious dogs, several messaging systems were used, including:

(1) ALERT LA COUNTY http://www.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/alertla emergency telephone call system. Be sure to register your cell phones and voice over IP phones.

(2) Also, register for LASD http://www.Nixle.com/ Text/Email notifications. Here is LASD Palmdale's: http://nixle.com/lasd---palmdale-station-los-angeles-county-sheriff/ LASD HQ http://nixle.com/lasd----hq-newsroom-shb-los-angeles-county-sheriff/

(3) Also Twitter @PalmdaleSheriff https://twitter.com/PalmdaleSheriff and @LASD_News https://twitter.com/LASD_News

(4) this Facebook page. (5) Website of the LASD Palmdale Facebook page is: http://www.Palmdale.lasd.org/


Sheriff’s Department personnel conducted ground and air searches, as well as worked closely with the DACC officers, going door to door, to search the area for the vicious dogs.

Littlerock residents were very cooperative in allowing deputies to search their properties to search for the vicious dogs and dogs resembling the attacking dogs. Several dogs, which were pointed out by residents to deputies and to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control officers, that matched the description of the attacking dogs were ruled out.

We thank the Littlerock community for their cooperation with the search.

There is no additional information at this time.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org/.



Prepared by:
Peter Gomez, Deputy
Kim Manatt, Deputy
Mike Parker, Captain
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800


*** First Press Release Below ***

Classification: Death Investigation
Date: Thursday, May 09, 2013
Time of Occurrence: 9:29 AM
Homicide Investigators: Lt. Corina

Sheriff's Homicide Detectives are en route to 115th Street East and Avenue S, Littlerock, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman.

There is no more information available at this time.

Written by:
Deputy Lillian Peck
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.lasd.org/
LASD HQ Text and Emails: www.Nixle.com
http://nixle.com/lasd----hq-newsroom-shb-los-angeles-county-sheriff/
Twitter: @LASD_News http://twitter.com/#!/LASD_News
Twitter: @LASDtalk https://twitter.com/LASDTalk
Twitter: @LASDvideos https://twitter.com/LASDvideos
Facebook LASD HQ: http://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment
LASD Photos: http://pinterest.com/lacountysheriff/
LASD YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/LACountySheriff/videos?view=0

Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local Sheriff’s station. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org/

Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

To receive more detailed, up-to-date information directly from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) via e-mail, register for "Nixle" alerts at www.Nixle.com or more directly at https://local.nixle.com/register/ and register for "LASD – Headquarters Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff" and your local LASD station area. Or, text your zip code to 888777 to receive text alerts only