Pitbull owners face manslaughter charges in fatal mauling

Involuntary manslaughter charges have been filed against a mother and daughter in the fatal attack by their pitbull dogs on a 75-year-old neighbor, the San Diego County district attorney's office announced Wednesday.

The victim, Emaka Mendoza, was attacked June 18 in the yard of her Paradise Hills neighborhood home by dogs owned by her neighbors, Alba Cornelio, 39, and Carla Cornelio, 19. After having a leg and arm amputated, and undergoing numerous surgeries, she died Dec. 24.

Initially, the defendants faced felony charges of possessing dangerous animals that caused great bodily injury. They pleaded not guilty.

Since Mendoza's death, prosecutors decided involuntary manslaughter charges were appropriate, a district attorney's spokesman said. The dogs had previously attacked another neighbor, the spokesman said.

After the attack on Mendoza, the dogs were seized and destroyed by the county Department of Animal Services.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

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