KENNEWICK — Court documents show that two pit bulls involved in an attack that led to the death of a Kennewick business owner had been declared dangerous and had a history of getting loose.
Sara Amilia Madrigal, 34, of Kennewick, is expected to appear in court Wednesday, Dec. 20, on one count of dog attack leading to serious injury or death. If found guilty, the felony carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
Madrigal is the owner of the two pit bulls that attacked Billene “Billi” Cameron when she tried to stop them from hurting her small dog when they got into her yard. Cameron later died from medical complications because of the attack, according to court documents.
Cameron’s family, who own the sports bar Woody’s Bullpen Bar and Grille in Kennewick, declined to comment about the charges.
Cameron and Madrigal lived in an unincorporated area of Kennewick just off of Canal Drive, often referred to as a county “doughnut hole.”
Dogs declared dangerous
Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge wrote in the probable cause statement that the dogs had previously been declared dangerous by Benton County Animal Control officers and that Madrigal was required to file for a permit to keep the dogs after they attacked a man in 2021.
The two pit bulls, Mando and Macani, originally belonged to Madrigal’s ex-boyfriend, but she kept the dogs after he no longer wanted to be responsible for them, according to the documents.
In 2021, the dogs rushed and attacked a German Shepherd and bit the owner on the hand when he was trying to get his dog away from them. At that time the dogs were declared dangerous and Madrigal and her ex-boyfriend were informed of their legal responsibilities for keeping them when they went to claim the dogs from animal control.
A month later the dogs got loose again, and she had to apply for permits to keep them. She took ownership of the dogs after her ex no longer wanted to be responsible for them after the attack.
A year later, in October 2022, the dogs were again identified as potentially dangerous, according to the documents. The court documents did not provide details about that incident or if it was an annual renewal of the permit, only that Madrigal was informed for at least the third time of her responsibilities as the owner of dogs that had been declared potentially dangerous.
Fatal attack
Billi Cameron was in her yard, sitting on her porch on Sept. 20, 2023, when Mando and Macani came into her yard and attacked her small dog, according to the documents.
Witnesses told police that the pit bulls were trying to bite the smaller dog on its neck when she tried to stop them. The pit bulls bit Cameron on her legs and calves, and she retreated inside her house, with the dogs following her.
She was able to get inside and away from the dogs. Law enforcement found and caught the pit bulls when they arrived.
When they were talking to witnesses, investigators say Cameron came out of the house seemingly in shock and bleeding profusely from injuries to her legs. She had tried to stop the bleeding, and paramedics applied a tourniquet.
Cameron died at the hospital due to complications from medical procedures in part due to the blood loss from her injuries and having been on high-dose blood thinners for other medical issues, according to the documents.
When officers found Madrigal after the attack she allegedly told them that she had kept the dogs in the backyard in part because she didn’t believe it was safe to have them in the house around her children.
Officers said she appeared remorseful and told them she had found a hole under the fence earlier that day and had been working to fill it in and cover it so that if she found the dogs, they wouldn’t be able to escape again.
The dogs were set to be euthanized by Benton County Animal Control after the attack.
