Owner Of 3 Dogs Who Attacked 4-Year-Old Girl At Park Enters Plea In Court

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The owner of a dog that attacked a 4-year-old girl in Ellicott City last fall has pleaded guilty to one count of reckless endangerment.

Jewel Jevin Brooks, 33, pleaded guilty May 7 for her role in the incident where one of her three dogs bit a 4-year-old girl at a park in October 2024. Patch previously reported that Brooks' three dogs escaped her Ellicott City home and one bit the 4-year-old girl.

Two of the dogs were pit bulls and a third was a Labrador retriever, police said. The girl was taken to Johns Hopkins Medical Center for treatment and has undergone therapy to recover from injuries she suffered during the attack, the family told WBAL.

The little girl's mother said, "I thought she was going to be gone; it was that bad. So, it's very emotional to talk about. … It was very brutal, very scary, traumatizing. That's all I can (say), that's the only words I have for it."

Prosecutors said in court that it took several adults to pull the dogs off the child.

Brooks testified that she also was injured while trying to save the little girl and accused the judge of "blatant breed prejudice," WBAL reported. Brooks said her dogs had never harmed anyone before the attack on the girl, but court records said all three dogs were previously deemed dangerous by officials after attacking other pets and two other people.

After pleading guilty May 7, Brooks was sentenced to five years, suspending all but 130 days' time served. She was placed on five years of supervised probation, also, with the following conditions:

• must undergo a mental health evaluation and counseling/treatment as recommended
• must stay away from the apartments where the attack occurred
• must not have any contact with the victim or her family
• must not have any dogs in her care, custody or control, and allow animal control to make monthly checks of her residence.