SAN ANTONIO — The images from the aftermath of Monday's fatal dog attack released by Bexar County investigators are frightening, and the account of the carnage is hard to fathom.
There are blood stains on a bed, a door and the floors. There are filthy carpets and debris is strewn about.
And at least one door with a big gaping hole at the bottom is evidence, investigators say, that points to dogs ripping and chewing their way into the rooms where a 13-year-old girl was engaged in life-or-death combat to save herself and little Jiryiah Johnson on Monday morning.
It was a battle the baby lost Monday night. Sheriff Javier Salazar said the injuries sustained when three dogs attacked him were just too severe.
In a Tuesday morning briefing, Salazar talked about his instinctive reaction to the images from inside the home.
"I'm furious at the fact that that she knew these dogs were problematic," he said. "Not only was she exposing her own child to this, to these unpredictable animals that had already caused damage; they were already dangerous, in my opinion, but not only that, she decided to bring a baby into that residence for the sheer profit."
Exasperated, Salazar said: "That right there is just... I'm disgusted by the whole thing."
Salazar said even though the baby has died, 36-year old Heather Rodriguez remains charged with causing serious bodily injury to the child, which is a first-degree felony. Her bond is set at $100,000.
Explaining why the charge has not been upgraded to murder, Salazar said both charges have the same penalty range, which is five to 99 years or life in prison with the possibility of a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted.
Salazar said he believes the Bexar County District Attorney may be considering increasing that bond amount for Rodriguez or perhaps bringing an additional charge.
"I don't know if they'll be planning to ask for an upgrade as far as the bond amount goes, but it is also possible that she may be facing additional charges for the injury to the 13-year-old who is actually her daughter."
'She made every effort possible'
Salazar said the teenager was injured when she fought bravely to save the baby during a horrific attack.
"I read the report in detail and it's pretty heartbreaking. She made every effort possible, even lifting that baby up over her head, but my understanding is the dog actually climbed onto something and was able to get the baby out of her hands and tear the baby out of her hands," Salazar said. "This little girl was put in a situation where she went from that bedroom to a bathroom to another bedroom and was chased every step of the way by these dogs who were continuing to bite her as well."
With regard to the status of the dogs involved, Salazar said they are doing everything they can to gain control of the animals.
"My understanding is that only one at present has been fully surrendered. The other two were turned over to animal control, but I spoke to our director of public health this morning, and we're going to be pushing, they'll be pushing, and of course we'll be in a support role to see if we can go ahead and get all three dogs fully surrendered," Salazar said.
"If they're not voluntarily surrendered," the sheriff continued, "we will still assist them with whatever it is they need to fully seize those dogs through the court process."
As the local medical examiner worked to complete an autopsy on the tiny victim, Salazar said they would be doing everything they could to provide services to the family.
"Our victims' advocates folks are working with them to ensure that their needs are taken care of," Salazar said, adding his own people will also have access to counseling to deal with the heartbreaking scene where they came to help before it turned out to be too little, too late.
He added that deputies responding to the scene at one point couldn't physically get to the children to mount their rescue.
"It wasn't until the owner of the dogs, the suspect, actually made it home and was able to get the dogs outside to allow the deputies to come in and, you know, start administering first aid to the baby."
Once the children had been rescued, Salazar said, Rodriguez had a change of attitude.
"Interestingly enough, it was like she changed gears and then turned protective of the dogs. She made it difficult for us to then gain access to the dogs and at that point, we had to physically get the dogs away and get them out and then we had to physically put her under arrest as well at that point."
Referencing previous citations to the owner for the dogs escaping restraints and threatening neighbors back in April, Salazar called it "the equivalent of coming out into your own front yard and waving a gun around indiscriminately. You know that what you've got on your hands is a huge problem."
Asked about whether there should be a movement to place some kind of restrictions on bully breeds of dogs, Salazar said he owns a pit mix rescue dog and he believes legislation relating to breeds is not the best approach.
"I don't know that it's an issue of the breed," he said. "I think it's the manner that they're brought up and the manner that they're raised and unfortunately there are people out there that have dogs that they know are vicious."
Family Opens Up About Death
On Tuesday, Julian Johnson and Erika Castro opened up about losing their son, Jiryiah. They said on Monday, his preschool was closed and Rodriguez, who was a family friend, offered to watch the baby since both of the parents had work.
They said she had gained their trust in the past and had no idea Rodriguez had left their baby alone with the 13-year-old girl.
“You left my son with a 13-year-old girl," Johnson said. "It’s pure and utter belligerence. It’s infuriating that that’s allowed. That she made that choice.”
Johnson and Castro said right now they are relying on their faith and support from their family to get through this difficult time.
“He gave every bit of him he could give and it felt like he waited on us to be able to tell him goodbye," Johnson said.
A verified Go Fund Me account has been created to help the family deal with funeral costs.
