Kimiko Hardy: Grandmother Faces Up To 11 Years In Prison For Infant’s Fatal Pit Bull Mauling


Thirty-eight-year-old Kimiko Hardy, the step-grandmother of an infant killed in a 2014 pit bull attack at her Dayton home, was found guilty on Friday in the boy’s death. She faces three to 11 years in prison for six charges that include involuntary manslaughter. The coroner initially ruled the death of the 7-month-old boy an accident. However, investigators later determined that Hardy knew her American Staffordshire Terrier was dangerous when it attacked and killed Jonathan Quarles, Jr. on July 20, 2014, while the child was visiting her home, New York Daily News reports.

The Ohio prosecutor’s office noted that the dog once attacked a mail carrier, which led the worker to miss work for two weeks, causing the postal service to refuse delivery to Hardy’s address for six months. Weeks before it mauled the baby to death, Kimiko’s dog, Bussa, attacked another dog in front of her home. Following the incident, Hardy was required to attend classes at the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center on responsible dog ownership. After the boy’s death, Bussa was seized and euthanized.

“This defendant was well aware that her dog was a dangerous, even vicious animal, yet she failed to properly control the animal and it killed a completely helpless infant.” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck, Jr. in a statement.

Baby Jonathan, Jr. died from multiple blunt force injuries, the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office reported last year. He was the infant son of Kashyra Hardy and Jonathan Quarles, Sr. WHIO reported that the baby was buried July 30, 2014, in Dayton, Ohio.

According to DogsBite, “In the 11-year period of 2005 through 2015, canines killed 360 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 64% (232) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths.”

Most pit bull attacks are attributed to irresponsible owners, but there are instances when a seemingly harmless dog attacks unprovoked. Such was the case last year when a pit bull named Mickey mauled a little boy. The judge in the case ruled that the dog would be “sentenced to life” at a no-kill shelter. Check out the clip above for more on that story.

The lawyer who represented Mickey in court said it was diagnosed with skin cancer and skin infections, which require constant treatment. The dog was set to receive daily vet care while serving its life sentence. Many working the case considered Mickey a victim, too. The boy survived the attack, but was left with a broken eye socket and jaw and other wounds, AZCentral reported.

Last year, 18-month-old Declan Moss was mauled to death by two family pit bull mixes. The two dogs were father and son, and authorities noted that they had no history of hurting another human, but had killed smaller dogs in the past. Of course the boy’s mother was devastated by her son’s death, but she also defended the dogs, saying, “it’s not necessarily the breed of the dog” that causes them to kill.

Most recently, a Michigan family adopted a dog from a local animal shelter after being told that it would be great with children. According to reports, as soon as they brought it home, their new pet attacked their daughter. Four-year-old Sierra suffered cuts to her face that required plastic surgery. Shelter employees told FOX 2 that the 60-pound pit bull “was well-behaved and showed no signs of aggression at all. He even let children take him for walks.”

“I feel sorry for the kid,” said Lanny Hall, animal control supervisor. “The secretary gave her money back on the dog. We do have it in quarantine and after 10 days it will be available for rescue only.”

Meanwhile, Kimiko Hardy’s full list of convicted charges include four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of endangering children, and one count of failure to confine or restrain a vicious dog. She will be sentenced June 9.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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