Judge’s ruling decides fate of dogs that killed a 7-year-old girl in Garner

Two dogs that fatally attacked a 7-year-old girl and injured her mother earlier this year at their neighbors’ Garner home will be euthanized Monday morning, Garner Police Chief Joe Binns said.

Wake County personnel will conduct the euthanasia, with an Garner animal control officer present, Binns told The News & Observer in an email Friday.

The decision came after a Wake County judge ruled earlier Friday that the Town of Garner could determine what happens to them.

“What Garner decides to do with the dogs at this point in time, I don’t have any discretion over,” said Wake County Superior Court Judge Vince Rozier. “But there is a common-sense solution for the town of Garner as well.”

Heather Trevaskis and her daughter, Jayden Belle Henderson, were taking care of the pit bulls April 27 while their neighbors were out of town, when the dogs attacked them. They were taken by ambulance to WakeMed, but Jayden did not survive.

Trevaskis called Friday’s ruling that the dogs won’t be returned to their owners a “relief.”

“No one else should have to be dragged through this, and we really want to push to make it a statewide law that unprovoked lethal dogs should not be returning to society,” Trevaskis said in an interview with The N&O.

In July, Kinley Borum, Jayden’s babysitter, started a petition to change North Carolina law to require that dogs that have fatally attacked people without being provoked are “immediately euthanized.”

The dogs’ owners, Joseph and Amanda White, had previously asked Garner for a dangerous dog permit, which would have let them keep the dogs. Binns denied the request, saying the dogs posed too great a risk.

“After reviewing all the information, the attack appeared to occur without warning or provocation. Allowing the dogs to be released would create a substantial and unnecessary danger to the public,” Binns said at the time.

In July, Rozier granted the owners a preliminary injunction, stopping the town, which had been pushing to euthanize the dogs, from doing so for 60 days, The N&O reported.

Legal authority questioned

On Friday, John Kirby, the Whites’ attorney, argued that the dogs remained their lawful property, and that since the couple had moved to Franklin County and intended to bring them there, Garner lacked the legal authority to keep possession of the dogs.

Paul Gessner, a former superior court judge for Wake County who represented Garner during Friday’s hearing, challenged the notion that by seizing the Whites’ dogs, Garner was infringing on their property rights.

“Just because you have a constitutional right, does not mean that it’s completely unfettered and cannot be touched,” Gessner said.

If he were to rule against the couple, Kirby asked Rozier to grant another 60-day injunction to give the Whites time to appeal.

Gessner urged the judge to deny that request.

“At the end of the day, this matter has gone further than it should have,” Gessner said. “The only way that we can stop this process and begin the healing process for everybody that’s involved is for the court to grant judgment in favor of the town and allow the town to take the necessary action.”

Rozier agreed, saying the case “has gone far enough.”

“It’s not appropriate, probably, for a judge to call someone selfish,” Rozier said. “But in 15 years I’ve been a judge, this is the most self-focused case that I have ever seen.”

Before announcing his decision, Rozier said it was important to remember the case is about Jayden Henderson.

“Say her name, and acknowledge her life,” he said.