Woman with dementia attacked, killed by daughter’s sick dogs, police say; daughter charged

Jessica Hoff, 47, of Colorado City, faces charges of criminal negligence resulting in the death of an at-risk adult and 54 counts of aggravated animal abuse. (Pueblo County Sheriff's Office/KCNC via CNN Newsource)

A Colorado woman is facing charges related to the death of her mother after police say the mother, who had dementia, was attacked by her daughter’s dogs.

Police found a total of 54 dogs, including about two dozen in the home where the attack allegedly occurred, and the rest at a second property she owned. Some of them were in poor health, according to investigators.

Jessica Hoff, 47, of Colorado City, faces charges of criminal negligence resulting in the death of an at-risk adult and 54 counts of aggravated animal abuse.

Investigators say Hoff left her mother, 76-year-old LaVonne Hoff, home alone, despite the elder Hoff requiring 24-hour care. Several of Jessica’s dogs attacked her mother when she left to run errands in Pueblo, according to police. The alleged attack occurred in the 4800 block of Jefferson Boulevard in a rural portion of southern Colorado. Colorado City is between Pueblo and Walsenburg, about 140 miles south of Denver.

The incident happened in early February but the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jessica on Friday.

When investigators found the animals, they said several of the dogs were in poor health and all were living in “unsanitary conditions.”

The animals were all removed from the two properties by Animal Control.

Jessica Hoff is being held in the Pueblo County Jail on a US$50,000 bond. Court records show she’s being represented by the Public Defender’s Office. She’s due back in court on Thursday.

By Austen Erblat, KCNC, via CNN Newsource