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Abilene Schnieder, 31, is facing charges of injury to elderly by criminal negligence and attack by a dangerous dog causing death, according to court records.
San Antonio Police Department
A second person is accused in the death of an elderly man mauled by dogs Friday on the West Side.
Abilene Schnieder, 31, is facing charges of attack by a dangerous dog causing death and injury to elderly by criminal negligence, according to court records. A neighbor who witnessed her arrest at around 12:30 p.m. today said she tearfully hugged her children before police officers led her away.
Her husband, Christian Alexander Moreno, 31, was arrested hours after last week’s deadly attack on the same charges, both felonies.
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Two of the couple’s American Staffordshire terriers — Snow and Legend — escaped their enclosure and attacked Ramon Najera Jr., 81, killing him.
Three other victims, including Najera’s wife, Juanita, 74, were injured in the attack just before 2 p.m. in the 2800 block of Depla Street.
Moreno remains in the Bexar County Jail as of Wednesday on the charges, as well as an unrelated charge of theft. His bail totals $139,000.
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A bail amount for Schnieder had not been set as of Wednesday afternoon.
Schnieder was previously arrested on Jan. 30 and charged with theft between $750 and $2,500. She posted a $3,000 bond and was released from jail that same day.
The attack
The Najeras were trying to visit relatives at a house next door to Moreno’s residence in the 2800 block of Depla Street shortly before 2 p.m. Friday when two of Moreno’s dogs attacked the couple.
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Some details remain unclear.
Animal Care Services said the Najeras went to their relatives’ front door, but the person they were looking for wasn’t home. The couple was returning to their car when they were mauled by the dogs, ACS reported.
Moreno’s arrest affidavits, however, state that Janie Najera was returning to the car, where her husband was waiting for her, and that she saw the two dogs attacking him. The affidavits noted that she tried to help her husband and also was injured by the dogs.
Graphic video footage recorded by a witness in a vehicle showed a bloodied Ramon Najera face down on the ground, desperately trying to get away as one of Moreno’s dogs continued to lunge and bite him, tearing off parts of his clothes. Another of Moreno’s dogs was captured on film standing in the street, barking, with blood covering its face.
Authorities seized both dogs, along with another of Moreno’s dogs, who was also out of its yard at the time, and four puppies. The three dogs were euthanized Friday and Saturday.
jbeltran@express-news.net
