On April 6, Cecille Short, 82, was walking her little Papillon dog in her northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood when she was attacked by two at-large pit bulls. The attack was so violent that when police arrived, they were unable to approach the woman. They were forced to shoot one dog and run over the other with the patrol vehicle. By then, it was too late. The dogs had killed the woman just feet from her own home.

At the time of the attack, police were unable to contact the dogs' owner, who was reportedly out of town, working in Houston. Neighbors say that the dogs were frequently running loose in the neighborhood, and animal control confirmed that they had been called to the Willow Creek neighborhood on multiple occasions involving the two dogs responsible for Short's death.

Police investigating the home where the dogs lived reportedly found a large hole in the fence that had been blocked by "old wood, a recycling container and an ice chest" in an effort to keep the dogs from getting out.

Now, police have been in contact with the dogs' owner, and the Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office has filed a charge of second degree manslaughter. Antwon Burks, 31, returned from Houston to turn himself in to authorities. He was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail and released on $10,000 bond.

Prosecutors say Burks knew or should have known the dogs' propensity to escape and their potential for violence, yet still allowed the dogs to roam at large or failed to take ordinary measures to confine them. They say that the hole in the fence appeared to be old, which would have given Burks time for repair, and that the measures he took to block the hole were far insufficient for two dogs of that size. Despite knowing this, Burks left town without taking adequate measure to secure his dogs. 

Oklahoma law says in 21 O.S. § 717, "If the owner of a mischievous animal, knowing its propensities, wilfully suffers it to go at large, or keeps it without ordinary care, and such animal, while so at large or not confined, kills any human being who has taken all the precautions which the circumstances permitted, to avoid such animal, the owner is deemed guilty of manslaughter in the second degree."

Second degree manslaughter is punishable 2 to 4 years in prison.