CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — A Pickaway County jury is scheduled to resume deliberations in the trial of a mother and son charged in connection with the dog attack death of an elderly neighbor in October.
Adam and Susan Withers have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and owning a dangerous dog.
The prosecution rested it case and the jury heard closing arguments on Wednesday.
Adam Withers testified that he had no idea how the two pit bulls got out on the day Joann Echelbarger, 73, was killed. His brief testimony mainly covered the timeline of events that happened that day. When asked if his door was locked when he left the home, he said there was no doubt in his mind that it was locked.
During closing arguments, the prosecution said the latch on the door was not working and it would be easy for the dogs to get out. Susan Withers’ attorney said she wasn’t home at the time of the attack and hadn’t been home all day that day.
“They have a duty to confine them,” Pickaway County Prosecutor Jamey Fountain said. “The failure to act had been occurring for months.”
“You’ve heard all of the evidence, and you do not know how the dogs got out of the house,” Adam Withers’ defense attorney Peter Scranton said.
“I’m not here to throw Adam Withers under the bus,” Susan Withers’ defense attorney Lisa Tome said. “Susan Withers was gone since the wee hours of the morning; Adam Withers was there.”
Jury deliberations, which were held briefly on Wednesday, are set to resume Thursday.