A sobbing Verna Cooper told a Travis County jury Wednesday afternoon that she did not open a door at her home that apparently allowed her pit bull mix to attack a girl on her bicycle.
Cooper is charged with attack by dog and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. She was one of two people indicted on the charge last year, in what officials said were the first such charges in Travis County in at least a decade. Her dog bit Gracyn Aills following an open house at Cooper’s North Austin home last year.
Following a 2009 attack on a jogger, the dog had been deemed dangerous and Cooper was required to register the dog annually, keep it in a secure enclosure and carry at least $100,000 in liability insurance. Cooper said she reinforced a wooden fence with wire and replaced all the strike plates in the door locks of her home in an effort to comply.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor John Hunt, Cooper said her homeowner’s insurance had lapsed at the time of the March 12, 2011, attack because she didn’t have the money to renew it, she testified.
Real estate agent Mary Willman Crecelius testified that she was almost eight months pregnant, in heels and incapable of moving boxes that blocked a door into the garage. Sawyer had said in his opening statements Tuesday that during the open house, someone had moved boxes that were blocking a door that kept the dog contained.
After the open house ended, Crecelius said, “I was in the process of locking all the doors and windows and (Cooper) said, ‘Please don’t. It’s a beautiful day.”
Crecelius also said Cooper later sent her numerous text messages accusing her of leaving the door open.
Earlier in the day, Aills’ father said he saw a “blur of a dog come out of nowhere.”
“This blur came and grabbed my daughter and she was screaming,” Peter Aills said.
Asked what his first thoughts were, Aills said, “That pit bulls don’t let go.”
“My daughter asked me, ‘Daddy, am I going to die?’” Aills said. Peter Aills said his daughter’s injuries linger and that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the attack.
“She was really into cheerleading and enjoyed gymnastics,” he said, adding that the girl, who was 11 or 12 at the time — testimony differed— still has pain in her leg.
The dog was later euthanized.
Defense lawyer Joe Sawyer brought up a civil suit that Aills’ family has filed against Cooper and Crecelius.
“You know perfectly well that if a jury were to convict her in this case, the civil case would be a slam dunk,” don’t you?” Sawyer asked Peter Aills.
Sawyer rested his case after his client’s testimony. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Thursday morning.