Family of Georgia Girl Attacked by Dog Awarded $36 Million

Prosecutors in DeKalb County, Ga., say the family of a girl who was critically injured in a dog attack has been awarded more than $36 million.

County Solicitor’s Spokeswoman Terrie Clark said in a statement that a jury awarded the family of Erin Ingram $72 million in a suit against Twyann Vaughn of Lithonia. Attorney Kevin Adamson said the judge capped punitive damages at $250,000, reducing the award to roughly $36.6 million.

Clark says Ingram was 8-years-old when she was attacked by Vaughn’s dogs and her left arm had to be partially amputated, among other injuries.

Vaughn was found guilty in January 2012 of reckless conduct, violation of the county’s vicious dog ordinance, and failure to have the dogs immunized for rabies. She was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

Topics Georgia

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January 16, 2015 at 9:18 am

uct says:

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Time and again, people want to run to the rescue of the “calm natured” Pit Bull. It isn’t nature vs. nurture with a Pit. I have owned many dogs, one being a Pit Bull. My Labs, Huskies and even my Akita have always grown to be better behaved than most adults. The Pit could not be taught that eating people was a bad thing. As a puppy, it was the sweetest little dog of the bunch. As it grew, it was around nothing but friendly dogs and an incredibly loving family. Regardless, it turned out to be a dog I did not wish to be an owner of. It turned on the other dogs from time to time. I literally had to peel it off them. It attacked me once, while attempting to feed him. That was enough and I took him to a rescue shelter. It is in their “nature” to be violent. You can “nurture” them all you want, but at some point, they are going to flip on you and become violent. Do you want to take that chance when you have children in the home, or neighbors with children? You simply cannot trust a Pit Bull. If you think you can, you are playing with not just your life, but of those around you.

For the record, our local pet store would not even offer training classes to Pit Bulls. The Vet will not see Pit Bulls unless the owner agrees to have them sedated. I work in Sales for a large HNW Personal Lines Carrier. Guess which dog our studies show are NOT safe? Even as a dog lover, I’ll never understand how people cannot see a Pit Bull should never be a family dog or even a dog allowed around many people.

Latest Comments

January 5, 2016 at 5:28 pm

Agent says:

Perplexed, as I am sure you are aware if you deal with Personal Lines and Homeowners, all the carriers have a list of prohibited dogs for acceptability. They do this because ... read more
January 4, 2016 at 5:47 pm

Agent says:

uct, you make a good point. For a relatively small amount of the dog population, Pit Bulls have an abnormally high amount of maulings, biting incidents, often on the owners f... read more
January 4, 2016 at 12:39 pm

2lanelover says:

.....yeah: kinda like a lot of people.....