{"id":56495,"date":"2014-10-03T19:31:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-04T02:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=56495"},"modified":"2019-01-24T12:37:57","modified_gmt":"2019-01-24T20:37:57","slug":"local-dog-owner-gets-15-to-life-in-mauling-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/10\/03\/local-dog-owner-gets-15-to-life-in-mauling-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Local dog owner gets 15 to life in mauling death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Defense<\/a>
Defense attorney Al Kim, left, and Alex Donald Jackson, right, react as Jackson’s brother Vincent Jackson pleads for leniency during the sentencing hearing in an Antelope Valley courtroom Friday, Oct. 3. Jackson was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison for the death of Pamela Devitt. (Photo courtesy Anne Cusack\/Los Angeles Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 A 31-year-old man whose pack of pit bulls killed a woman in Littlerock last year was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in state prison.<\/p>\n

Alex Donald Jackson<\/strong> was sentenced in an Antelope Valley courtroom for the murder of Pamela Marie Devitt<\/strong> \u2013 the 63-year-old woman mauled to death while out for a walk in May of 2013.<\/p>\n

Devitt\u2019s husband, Ben, gave an emotional victim impact statement. He said his wife was a seamstress, she decorated cakes, she played the piano and she was \u201chell bent on taking care of herself\u201d \u2013 a feat accomplished through her daily morning walks.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/a>
Ben Devitt gave an emotional victim impact statement. He said his wife’s story shouldn’t have ended in such a horrific way. (Courtesy Anne Cusack\/Los Angeles Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just days before the deadly attack, the couple had been making retirement plans. They were going to relocate to Washington to be closer to family, Ben Devitt<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer story shouldn’t have ended in such a horrific way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, Ben Devitt told the court that he didn\u2019t think Alex Jackson should be jailed for life.<\/p>\n

Court testimony also came from Vincent Jackson<\/strong>, who wept as he pleaded for leniency for his brother.<\/p>\n

Alex Jackson had no reason to believe his dogs would kill Pamela Devitt, and the incident had been a \u201clife changer\u201d for the Jackson family, Vincent Jackson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way that we can bring back Mrs. Devitt… I know that he [Alex Jackson] feels absolutely terrible about this,\u201d Vincent Jackson said.<\/p>\n

On May 9, 2013, Pamela Devitt was out for her daily morning walk near her Littlerock home when she was brutally attacked by four pit bulls. She sustained more than 150 puncture wounds and died of sharp force trauma, an autopsy revealed.<\/p>\n

\"Pamela<\/a>
Pamela Marie Devitt sustained more than 150 puncture wounds during the pit bull attack and died of sharp force trauma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hours after the attack, authorities seized six pit bulls and two mixed-breed dogs from Jackson\u2019s Littlerock home. Four of the pit bulls had Devitt’s DNA on their fur, prompting the second-degree murder charge.<\/p>\n

Jackson was also charged with multiple drug-related felonies in connection with a marijuana grow investigators discovered at his residence on the 37000 block of 115th Street East.<\/p>\n

Evidence shown at trial proved that other victims had been attacked by Jackson\u2019s pit bulls on several prior occasions. A jury on Aug. 29 found Jackson guilty of second-degree murder, cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n

In handing down the sentence Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lisa Chung acknowledged that the case was \u201cfairly unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sentenced Jackson to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder conviction and seven years for the other guilty counts, to run concurrently with the murder term.<\/p>\n

Jackson is due back in court October 17 for a restitution hearing. He will be sent to state prison after the restitution hearing.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Previous related stories:<\/p>\n

Dog owner found guilty in mauling death<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Dog owner charged with murder in Littlerock mauling death<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Victim ID\u2019d in fatal mauling, fate of captured dogs uncertain<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Eight dogs seized in deadly mauling of 63-year-old woman<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 A 31-year-old man whose pack of pit bulls killed a woman in Littlerock last year was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in state prison. Alex Donald Jackson was sentenced in an Antelope Valley courtroom for the murder of Pamela Marie Devitt \u2013 the 63-year-old woman mauled to death while out for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[719,1493],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56495"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}