A man who owned dogs who brutally attacked an upstate woman last month, seriously injuring her and forcing the amputation of her arms, appeared in court on Thursday. Justin Minor has been charged with three counts of owning dangerous animals attacking humans, a rabies violation and unrestrained allowing dangerous animals from his property in the March 21 attack on Kylen Waltman. Investigators said three dogs struck Waltman while he was walking along Ball Road in Honia Path. Waltman suffered serious injuries, including both arms amputated to the shoulder, with his colon removed. and has had several skin grafts, all of which her family is documenting on a GoFundMe page. During the preliminary hearing, Minor sat with his lawyer, Charles Gross, often with his elbows on a table and clasped hands, covering his mouth. The only person to testify during the hearing was Abbeville County Sheriff’s Investigator Lieutenant Jeffrey Hines, who described what the deputy had seen at the scene the day Waltman was found in a ditch, severely crushed. Hines said the man who called 911 about the attack was driving a tractor up to his cows and saw Waltman being attacked by three dogs. He said the witness got off his tractor and tried to help Waltman and one of the dogs tried to attack him, so he fired a shot from his pistol to scare the dogs away. The dogs then ran away, Hines said. Previous Coverage: Woman crushed by dog poop to undergo further surgery, family says woman crushed by dogs in South Carolina has successful surgery, family says owner of dogs says South Carolina The woman has been attacked; Bond Set Hines said the witness did not see how the attack began. Minor’s attorney, Charles Gross, asked Hines if he had spoken to any witnesses who had witnessed the start of the attack, to which he did not respond. Hines said the deputy arrived at the scene and saw Waltman had been “severely bitten” on the side of the dirt road in front of the miner’s house. He said emergency medical service personnel arrived later and treated Waltman before being taken to hospital by ambulance. Hines Waltman went to the hospital a few days after the incident after being told that he had multiple surgeries. He took pictures in the intensive care unit and reported that both of his hands were “completely severed down to the shoulder,” he said. “He had bites all over his body including his entire body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. It was one of the most gruesome animal attacks I’ve ever had in my career.” Hines said that when Minor arrived, he told the deputy he was at work when he got a call about the attack. Minor told the deputy. that they could take the dogs and put them down, Hines said. Animal control officials said they had previously taken a total of 11 dogs from Minor’s property. According to Hines, Minor told the deputy that he would wants to put the dogs down after the chickens have been slaughtered, but his wife was against it. Minor told the deputy that his wife thought they could be trained. Minor told the deputy that “once a dog bled Hines said in court. Hines testified that witnesses described the dogs who attacked Minor from Waltman, who retrieved the dogs and gave them to Abbeville County Animal Control. Signed on. Hines said that dispatchers told the deputy that a person called Minor on Christmas Eve 2021 The U.S. had reported a previous attack involving dogs when a person was bitten, but animal control officials said no animals were taken in that incident and the sheriff’s office was not notified. He said the person who reported the incident said he was attacked by two pit bull mix dogs. Hines said none of Minor’s dogs had been vaccinated for rabies “or anything else.” Unsafe to go out of his house because Minor’s dogs would come up to him and growl at him. He has to carry a stick whenever he has to go out, Hines said. The neighbor said that a few days before the attack, Minor had told him, “Those dogs will bite anyone.” Hines, describing the property of Minor, said that there was no fence around the property. He says there were a few kennels with some dogs inside, but he says others were roaming around the property. Hines said both responding representatives were equipped with body cameras, but added that the first deputy who arrived did not immediately start the cameras. Hines said he did not know why, but he proposed that it could be the tension of the situation, “seeing this woman viciously assaulted,” or because the deputy’s first priority was to aid Waltman. Hines told the court what he later saw in body camera footage, which he reviewed. The video showed Waltman being carried on a stretcher, “his entire tricep was removed and there was nothing but a bone in his left arm.” Gross asked the court to dismiss the charges, saying the testimony did not meet all the requirements for probable cause. Whether these were the same dogs or not has nothing to do with the Christmas Eve incident,” said Gross. Gross also said that none of the testimony presented in court provided evidence that the attack was unprovoked. Although it is a sad situation, it does not mean that it is a criminal situation, and I would just ask everyone to remember the notion of innocence,” Gross said. In the end, the judge ruled that there was sufficient probable cause to proceed with the charges. Waltman’s mother and sister were in the courtroom, becoming emotional several times during the hearing. Her family declined to comment after the hearing. The next date of the court has not been decided yet.
A man who owned dogs who brutally attacked an upstate woman last month, seriously injuring her and forcing her to amputate her hands, appeared in court on Thursday.
Justin Minor has been charged with owning dangerous animals that attacked humans, violating rabies, and allowing dangerous animals out of his property uncontrollably in the March 21 attack on Kylen Waltman.
Investigators said three dogs struck Waltman when he was walking along Ball Road in Honia Path.
Waltman suffered serious injuries, including having both arms amputated to the shoulder, had his colon removed and multiple skin grafts, all of which were his own. The family is documenting a GoFundMe page.
During the preliminary hearing, Minor sat with his lawyer, Charles Gross, often with his elbows on a table and his hands covered to cover his mouth.
The only person to testify during the hearing was Abbeville County Sheriff’s Investigator Lieutenant Jeffrey Hines, who described what the deputy had seen at the scene the day Waltman was found in a ditch, severely crushed.
Hines said the man who called 911 about the attack was driving a tractor up to his cows and saw Waltman being attacked by three dogs. He said the witness got off his tractor and tried to help Waltman and one of the dogs tried to attack him, so he fired a shot from his pistol to scare the dogs away. The dogs then ran away, Hines said.
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Hines said the witness did not see how the attack began.
Minor’s attorney, Charles Gross, asked Hines if he had spoken to any witnesses who had witnessed the start of the attack, to which he did not respond.
Hines said representatives arrived at the scene and saw Waltman had been “severely bitten” on the side of the dirt road in front of the miner’s home.
He said emergency medical service personnel arrived later and treated Waltman at the scene before being taken to hospital by ambulance.
Hines said he went to the hospital a few days after the incident when he said Waltman had had multiple surgeries.
He took pictures in the intensive care unit and reported that both of his hands were “completely severed down to the shoulder,” he said. “He had bites all over his body including his entire body from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. It was one of the most gruesome animal attacks I’ve ever seen in my career.”
Hines said that when Minor arrived, he told the deputy he was at work when he received a call about the attack.
Minor told the deputy they could take the dogs and put them down, Hines said.
Animal control officials said they had earlier taken away a total of 11 dogs from the minor’s property.
According to Hines, Minor told the deputy that he wanted to put the dogs down after his chickens were slaughtered, but his wife was against it. Minor told the deputy that his wife thought he could be trained.
Minor told the deputy that “once a dog tastes blood, that is,” Hines told the court.
Hines testified that the witness described the dogs that attacked Minor from Waltman, who retrieved the dogs and signed them to Abbeville County Animal Control.
Hines said dispatchers told the deputy that a man had reported a previous attack involving Minor’s dogs on Christmas Eve 2021, when a person was bitten, but animal control officials said that in that incident There were no animals and the sheriff’s office was not notified.
He said the person who reported the incident said he was attacked by two pit bull mix dogs.
Hines said none of Minor’s dogs had been vaccinated for rabies “or anything else.”
Hines testified that a neighbor told the deputy that he felt unsafe to leave his house because Minor’s dogs came up to him and growled at him. He has to carry a stick whenever he has to go out, Hines said. The neighbor said that a few days before the attack, Minor had told him, “Those dogs will bite anyone.”
Hines, describing the property of Minor, said that there was no fence around the property. He says there were some dogs outside and some dogs inside, but he says others were roaming around the property.
Hines said both responding representatives were equipped with body cameras, but added that the first deputy who arrived did not immediately start the cameras. Hines said he did not know why, but he proposed that it could be the tension of the situation, “seeing this woman viciously assaulted,” or because the deputy’s first priority was to aid Waltman.
Hines told the court what he later saw in body camera footage, which he reviewed. The video showed Waltman being carried on a stretcher with “his entire tricep removed and nothing but a bone in his left arm.”
Gross asked the court to dismiss the charges, saying the testimony did not meet all the requirements for probable cause.
“Whether or not these were the same dogs has nothing to do with the Christmas Eve incident,” Gross said.
Gross also said that none of the testimony presented in court provided evidence that the attack was unprovoked.
“While this is a sad situation, it does not mean that it is a criminal situation, and I would just ask everyone to remember the notion of innocence,” Gross said.
In the end, the judge ruled that there were sufficient probable cause to proceed with the charges.
Waltman’s mother and sister were in the courtroom, becoming emotional several times during the hearing. His family declined to comment after the hearing.
The next court date has not yet been set.
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