![\"Locklynn](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-11-21_21-36-28-735-e1763789813326.png?ssl=1\")
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<\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n OKLAHOMA CITY,\u00a0 Oklahoma;\u00a0 THOMASVILLE,\u00a0 Georgia;\u00a0 TYLER,\u00a0 Texas\u2013\u2013<\/strong>Locklynn McGuire, \u00a0whose third birthday was to have been on December 12,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 73-year-old retired Duke Energy employee, \u00a0volunteer firefighter,\u00a0 and Meals on Wheels driver Michael Bodenheimer,\u00a0 and 23-year-old second grade teacher Madison Hull are the latest pit bull fatalities of 2025.<\/p>\n The 2025 toll has already tied the U.S. records for both dog attack fatalities in a year (75) and pit bull attack fatalities (57),\u00a0 with the holiday season,\u00a0 usually a peak time for dog attacks,\u00a0 still ahead.<\/p>\n <\/a> Abigail Ogle.\u00a0 (KOCO photo.)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Abigail Ogle,\u00a0 five p.m. television news anchor for KOCO in Oklahoma City, \u00a0barely managed to hold herself together in reporting Locklynn McGuire\u2019s death.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo parents in Oklahoma City have been arrested on complaints of second-degree murder,\u201d\u00a0 Ogle began, \u00a0\u201cafter their two-year-old daughter, \u00a0Locklynn, \u00a0was mauled to death by a family dog.\u201d<\/p>\n On November 17,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 Ogle continued,\u00a0 \u201cOklahoma City police were called to the house for a welfare check,\u201d\u00a0 at about 11:30 p.m., \u00a0\u201cwhere the girl\u2019s mother reportedly told officers, \u00a0\u2018My daughter got ate by the pit.\u2019\u00a0 Once inside, \u00a0police found Locklynn\u2019s body covered in bite marks and other gruesome injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficers said the little girl had been locked in a room with the dog,\u201d\u00a0 one of four pit bulls in the home,\u00a0 who killed her.<\/p>\n <\/a> Locklynn McGuire.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cOklahoma City Animal Welfare removed all four dogs from the home and noted that three appeared to be malnourished,\u201d\u00a0 Ogle added.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth parents were taken to the station for interviews, \u00a0where police said the father stated, \u00a0\u2018I just have a feeling my gut\u2019s telling me I\u2019m going to jail.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Posted Ogle to Facebook afterward,\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to keep it simple and stick to the facts\u2026 as I couldn\u2019t even get through my 5 p.m. report without emotion. \u00a0Two-year-old Locklynn was locked in the room with the same dog who had already attacked her in the past.\u00a0 The dog had severed her ear weeks before the deadly encounter.<\/p>\n <\/a> Darci Lambert & Jordan McGuire.<\/strong><\/em> \u201cThe parents told police they kept the dog in their toddler\u2019s room because the dog would kill their other dogs. \u00a0The door had a double lock so the child couldn\u2019t escape.\u201d<\/p>\n Updated Oklahoma City Free Press <\/em>founder and editor-in-chief Brett Dickerson,\u00a0 \u201cAccording to Staff Sergeant Dillon Quirk with the Oklahoma City Police Department, \u00a0Jordan McGuire, \u00a034, \u00a0and Darci Lambert, 24, \u00a0were booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center and remain in the Oklahoma County jail as of publication.<\/p>\n \u201cEach have had their bond set at $1 million.\u201d<\/p>\n Impounded along with the four pit bulls were reportedly a pet rat and two pet lizards.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage )<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n The death of Locklynn McGuire echoed an August 17, \u00a02024 pit bull attack on a six-year-old boy who had been handcuffed,\u00a0 wrists and feet,\u00a0 at a home in Savannah,\u00a0 Ohio.<\/p>\n The outcome could be similar,\u00a0 as was the offense.<\/p>\n The boy survived his injuries,\u00a0 but his mother,\u00a0 Angelina Williams,\u00a0 on July 3,\u00a0 2025 was sentenced by Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas judge David Stimpert to serve a minimum of 19 years and a maximum of 23.5 years in prison.<\/p>\n Williams had in May 2025 pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping, \u00a0four counts of endangering children, \u00a0one count of obstructing justice, \u00a0and one count of possessing criminal tools.<\/p>\n The pit bull was impounded.<\/p>\n <\/a> Angelina Williams (right), Robert Michalski, Jr. (middle) and Taylor Desiree Marvin-Brown (left).\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>(Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n A second adult who was reportedly present during the handcuffing and the pit bull attack,\u00a0 Taylor Desiree Marvin-Brown,\u00a0 30,\u00a0 was\u00a0sentenced to serve from 10 to 15 years in prison\u00a0on the same charges.<\/p>\n The homeowner,\u00a0 Robert Michalski Jr., \u00a0great uncle of the victim,\u00a0 was convicted on two counts of complicity to commit endangering children and tampering with evidence, \u00a0but was found not guilty of kidnapping, endangering children, \u00a0and possessing criminal tools. \u00a0He was sentenced to serve nine years in prison.<\/p>\n <\/a> Michael Bodenheimer.<\/strong><\/em> Michael Bodenheimer was found dead from an unwitnessed pack attack at his home in Thomasville,\u00a0 North Carolina,\u00a0 at about 7:30 p.m. on November 18,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 approximately 20 hours after Locklynn McGuire was killed.<\/p>\n Bodenheimer was \u201cbeyond the possibility of life-saving,\u201d\u00a0 WFMY News reported.<\/p>\n While there were apparently no eyewitnesses,\u00a0 WFMY News reported,\u00a0 there apparently was evidence at the scene sufficient for Davidson County sheriff Richie Simmons to \u201cconfirm criminal charges are coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Simmons also said he believed the threat to the neighborhood from the dogs had been reduced,\u00a0 apparently because police shot or impounded the suspect dogs.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Details were scarce.\u00a0 Neighbors were not reassured by Simmons\u2019 statements,\u00a0 nor by the lack of prompt communication about the case to the community.<\/p>\n \u201cAt best,\u00a0 it is neglectful to not go door to door or call.\u00a0 At worst, \u00a0it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d\u00a0 Rachel Green told WGFP.<\/p>\n \u201cAzure Hensley, \u00a0who runs the Clover\u2019s Clubhouse cat rescue, \u00a0first heard about the tragic incident when someone messaged her, \u00a0initially worried about stray cats possibly being attacked.\u00a0 Soon after,\u00a0 she learned about the victim,\u201d\u00a0 reported Michaela Ratliff and Celeste Smith for Piedmont Triad News.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s concerning to me that people didn\u2019t know,\u201d\u00a0 continued Hensley. \u00a0\u201cThey didn\u2019t know to not let their kids outside to play or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> Madison Hull.\u00a0 (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Madison Hull,\u00a0 of Tyler,\u00a0 Texas, \u00a0had two pit bulls herself, \u00a0according to Facebook postings,\u00a0 but was pet-sitting three pit bulls for a friend who was out of town when found dead in the friend\u2019s yard by Smith County sheriff\u2019s deputies at about 4:15 p.m on November 21,\u00a0 2025.<\/p>\n The first responding deputy shot one of the pit bulls who killed Hull at the scene,\u00a0 reported KLTV digital media staff.<\/p>\n Posted the victim\u2019s mother,\u00a0 Jennifer Hubbell,\u00a0 to Facebook on November 22,\u00a0 2025,\u00a0 \u201cI am shattered in a way I didn\u2019t know a human being could break.<\/p>\n \u201cTo answer a lot of questions,\u201d\u00a0 Hubbell said, \u00a0\u201cone dog was shot and the other two were taken by animal control and will be euthanized. \u00a0Madison had been dog sitting for a couple in Tyler and she was familiar with the dogs.\u00a0 She had been around them for a few weeks.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u201cWith that being said,\u201d\u00a0 Hubbell continued, \u00a0\u201cone in particular was very aggressive and temperamental and was the one who was shot.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not know what was different about yesterday,\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Hubbell said,\u00a0 \u201cother than the dog\u2019s owner texted Madi and told her the dogs were fighting each other and had gotten out of the house and were in the back yard and [asked] if she could go by and get them back in the house.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dogs attacked her and severed her brachial artery,\u00a0 under her arm,\u201d\u00a0 Hubbell detailed.\u00a0 \u201cShe was likely gone very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> Cynthia Stevens Kent.\u00a0 (LinkedIn photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Two previous pit bull attack fatalities within 20 miles of Tyler,\u00a0 both occurring in a 15-day span in 2010,\u00a0 \u00a0temporarily put momentum behind an unsuccessful effort by retired Tyler district judge Cynthia Stevens Kent to ban pit bull terriers in the state of Texas.<\/p>\n Both fatalities came after Kent in September 2010 won a record $7 million liability award in another local fatal attack case, \u00a0and after repeated courtroom failures of Lillian\u2019s Law, \u00a0a \u00a0\u201cpunish the deed not the breed\u201d statute passed by the Texas legislature in 2007.<\/p>\n Kaden Muckleroy, \u00a0age 2, \u00a0of Henderson in Rusk County, \u00a0Texas,\u00a0 was killed on November 10, \u00a02010 while playing on a swing set behind his grandparents\u2019 house when one of 30 to 40 dogs on the premises broke his chain and attacked.<\/p>\n <\/a> Kaden Christopher Muckleroy.<\/strong><\/em> The pit bull who killed Kaden Muckleroy was a favorite of the victim and had often played with him, \u00a0his grandmother Nettie Muckleroy told Robyn Claridy of the Longview News-Journal.<\/em><\/p>\n The dog originally belonged to the victim\u2019s uncle, \u00a0Kelvin Muckleroy Jr., \u00a033, \u00a0but was impounded after Kelvin Muckleroy Jr. was found shot to death in a burning house in nearby Longview in October 2009.<\/p>\n Convicted of murder and arson in the Kelvin Muckleroy Jr. case, \u00a0\u00a0Toronto \u201cTrigger\u201d Lockridge received a 45-year prison sentence.\u00a0 An alleged accomplice, Brandon \u201cBull \u201c Horne, \u00a0was charged only with arson,\u00a0 but also was sentenced to serve 45 years in prison.<\/p>\n Kaden Muckleroy\u2019s grandfather, \u00a0Kelvin Muckleroy, \u00a0reportedly paid the pound fees to retrieve the dog after Kelvin Muckleroy Jr. was murdered.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Kaden Muckleroy\u2019s cousin, \u00a0Emily Fenison, \u00a018, \u00a0visited the family after the two-year-old\u2019s pit bull attack death, \u00a0then hanged herself in Carthage that evening, but Panola County officials said they believed her suicide was for unrelated reasons.<\/p>\n The Muckleroy family surrendered most of their dogs to the Henderson Animal Shelter.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout a third to half were pit bulls or pit mixes,\u201d said shelter supervisor Ronnie Whittington. \u201cThere were some puppies that we were able to save,\u201d \u00a0Whittington told Tyler Morning Telegraph<\/em> staff writer Kenneth Dean, \u00a0but most were euthanized due to conditions allegedly resulting from chronic neglect of their health.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n The other Tyler-area fatality in 2010 came on November 25,\u00a0 Thanksgiving evening.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo pit bulls belonging to Kathy Rogers and Michael Miller of Canton escaped from their home and attacked a border collie outside the home of Richard Martratt, \u00a064,\u201d\u00a0 Van Zandt county sheriff Pat Burnett told media.<\/p>\n \u201cMartratt\u2019s mother-in-law Joan Hardin, \u00a078, \u00a0tried to stop the fight but was knocked down by one of the pit bulls and suffered a head injury,\u201d \u00a0Burnett said. \u00a0\u201cMartratt cut that pit bull\u2019s throat with a pocket knife, \u00a0but the dog bit Hardin\u2019s son Alan Hardin, \u00a050, \u00a0before dying. \u00a0As emergency medical personnel arrived to help Joan Hardin, \u00a0Martratt suffered a fatal heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cynthia Stevens Kent,\u00a0 representing bereaved mother Serena Clinton, \u00a0 won the record jury award of $7 million against pit bull terrier owners Rick and Christi George of Leveritt\u2019s Chapel in Rusk County,\u00a0 Texas, \u00a0for allowing their two dogs to escape and kill skateboarder Justin Clinton, \u00a010, \u00a0on June 15, \u00a02009.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever,\u201d\u00a0 Kent wrote in a November 11, \u00a02010 open letter to Texas legislators, \u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe owners had no home owner\u2019s insurance and our client will likely never see a dime, \u00a0even toward Justin\u2019s funeral expenses. \u00a0Not that money could ever bring a dead child back to life, \u00a0but this fact just added insult to injury to the Clinton family.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a> Lillian Stiles. (Facebook photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIn 2007 the Texas legislature attempted to address the dog attack problem with Lillian\u2019s Law,\u201d\u00a0 Kent recalled. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cHowever, \u00a0this legislation has such serious drawbacks that prosecutors often use another portion of the penal code rather than jump through the Lillian\u2019s Law hoops.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Underscoring Kent\u2019s point,\u00a0 Fannin County judge Lauri Blake in January 2010 ruled that Lillian\u2019s Law is unconstitutionally vague, \u00a0dismissing all charges against one John Hardy Taylor.<\/p>\n Two of four pit bulls whom Hardy was transporting in an open vehicle in August 2008 leaped out to attack an 11-year-old girl and a 44-year-old woman in downtown Bonham,\u00a0 Texas.<\/p>\n Hardy was believed to be the first person to be charged with a felony under Lillian\u2019s Law.<\/p>\n <\/a> Amber Jones.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Despite Blake\u2019s ruling, \u00a0Lillian\u2019s Law remains the primary prosecutorial tool against dog attacks in Texas,\u00a0 where sentences for dog attacks,\u00a0 even fatal attacks,\u00a0 remain notoriously weak despite an amendment to Lillian\u2019s Law in 2022 that allows prosecuting fatal dog attacks as a second-degree felony.<\/p>\n Lillian\u2019s Law was named after Lillian Stiles, \u00a076, \u00a0who was killed in November 2005 while working in her garden in Milam County.<\/p>\n The law cleared the Texas legislature and was signed into law by the governor soon after Amber Jones, \u00a010, of San Antonio, \u00a0freed a neighbor\u2019s pit bull whose collar was caught in a chain link fence and was killed by the dog seconds later.<\/p>\n <\/a> Kenneth Phillips.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n California dog law attorney Kenneth Phillips predicted when Lillian\u2019s Law passed that it would prove ineffective both in preventing dog attacks and in winning felony convictions after severe attacks occur.<\/p>\n Phillips was right:\u00a0 of the 81 fatal dog attacks occurring in Texas since Lillian\u2019s Law took effect,\u00a0 fewer than half a dozen are known to have resulted in felony convictions.<\/p>\n \u201cLillian\u2019s Law increases the jail time for owners who fail to reasonably secure their dogs, \u00a0resulting in serious bodily injury or death,\u201d\u00a0 explained Phillips,\u00a0 but does \u201cabsolutely nothing for victims, \u00a0who have to pay their own medical bills, \u00a0receive nothing to minimize the effect of their scars, \u00a0and are not compensated for pain, \u00a0suffering, \u00a0lost income, \u00a0loss of earning capacity, \u00a0disability or anything else,\u201d\u00a0 Phillips posted to his web site www.dogbitelaw.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are three glaring errors in Lillian\u2019s Law,\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Phillips continued. \u00a0\u201cThe first one preserves the defense that enabled Jose Hernandez to escape conviction for the death of Lillian Stiles herself. \u00a0Conviction is not possible unless there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the dog owner knew or should have known that his dog was going to cause death or severe bodily injury.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Lillian Stiles case, \u00a0Hernandez convinced the jury that he did not have the necessary culpability because he was unaware that his six pit bull\/Rottweiler mixes were dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\nMeals on Wheels driver & second grade teacher also among week\u2019s pit bull death toll<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nNews anchor struggled to read report<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nSame pit bull had previously mauled the victim<\/h2>\n
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(Beth Clifton collage & Oklahoma County Detention Center photos.)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n\u201cDouble lock so the child couldn\u2019t escape\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nOhio child victim was handcuffed<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nAccessories go to prison too<\/h2>\n
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(J.C. Green & Sons photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n\u201cBeyond possibility of life-saving\u201d<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nNeighbors not reassured<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\u201cI am shattered\u201d says mother of Tyler victim<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nVictim was asked to break up dog fight<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nPrevious Tyler-area fatalities led to attempt to ban pit bulls in Texas<\/h2>\n
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(Garmon Funeral Home photo)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\nMurder & arson<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nSuicide<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThanksgiving morning<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nUncollectable award<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLillian\u2019s Law<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nLillian Stiles & Amber Jones<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nKenneth Phillips predicted Lillian\u2019s Law would fail<\/h2>\n
<\/a>\u201cThree glaring errors\u201d<\/h2>\n