Joann Echelbarger lawsuit: Family file wrongful death lawsuit after neighbors pit bull dogs, high on cocaine mauled 73 year old Ohio grandmother to death despite numerous attempts to have dangerous dogs removed after repeated building and Pickaway County infractions.
The family of a 73 year old Ohio woman mauled to death by the neighbor’s pit bull dogs have filed a lawsuit, claiming that the animals were high on cocaine when the deadly attack took place.
JoAnn Echelbarger, 73, of Ashville, was ‘peacefully gardening’ in October when she was attacked by the pit bulls, Echo and Apollo, freely roaming her Ashton condominium’s common areas, according to the wrongful death suit.
Her husband, Stanley — who suffers from dementia and was in a wheelchair — watched helplessly as his wife was mauled for several minutes while ‘screaming for her life,’ according to the complaint, which stated one dog continuing the attack even after responding police opened fire to try to stop them.
The dogs both later tested positive for cocaine, according to court documents.
Their owners, Adam Withers and his mother, Susan Withers, were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Echelbarger’s death last month, Pickaway County court records show.
The family is suing the owners as well as their mother’s condominium association and the county dog warden, accusing them of negligence and failing to act on several red flags about the Witherses and their dogs’ behavior.
The suit alleges police responding to the neighbor’s home just weeks before after the two pit bulls, Echo and Apollo having ingested owner, Adam Withers’ cocaine and acting wildly, scenes which were captured by police body camera video.
Despite an order from the condominium association, for the dogs be removed from the condominium going back to December, 2023, the county dog warden along with building management took no action against the owners as the dogs continued to remain at the residence.
Instead, Adam Withers, who allowed the dogs to freely roam with no leash, taunted building management, posting on social media that the ‘humans are the problem.’
Read one Facebook post: ‘Never ask a pitbull owner to choose between you and their pitbulls. Because they will choose, and it won’t be you.’
The association took the dog owners to court in April of last year and obtained a court order to remove the dogs a month before Echelbarger’s death. Nevertheless no action was ever taken by any party, leading up to October’s fatal attack.
‘This is not what you expect your parent to go through. This is not what you expect to happen to anyone you love,’ said Echelbarger’s daughter Earlene Romine.
‘It’s reckless,’ the dead woman’s son told ABC 6. ‘How do you not look at them as a villain responsible for killing your mom?’
“I feel like they were gambling with a lot of people’s lives that day, and she was the one who paid the price,’ the son continued.
The family’s suit seeks compensatory damages exceeding $25,000 along with punitive damages.
‘We are looking for justice,’ said Rex Elliot, the family’s attorney, saying that local authorities ‘had a responsibility to take … those dogs out of there.’
Both Adam Withers and his mother, Susan await their sentencing.
