SAN ANTONIO – The widow of an 81-year-old man who was killed in a vicious dog attack in February has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the dogs and the owner of the West Side home.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday and names Juanita Najera, the widow of Ramon Najera Jr., as the plaintiff seeking $1 million in negligent damages.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are Christian Alexander Moreno and Abilene Schnieder Moreno, who owned three dogs, and Carlos Moreno, the homeowner.
The Najeras were visiting a neighbor of the Moreno’s in the 2800 block of Depla Street on Feb. 24 when three dogs attacked them. Ramon Najera Jr. died at a hospital from injuries he suffered in the attack and Juanita Najera, 74, was seriously injured.
“The attacks were unprovoked and the dog(s) committed the attacks outside their enclosure and outside the Defendants’ property. Ramon Najera, Jr., was brutally killed in the attacks. Juanita Najera was severely injured in the attacks and witnessed the horrific mauling and death of her loving husband,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the defendants were negligent for a long list of reasons, including the following:
- Failing to prevent the dog(s) involved in the attacks from attacking the Plaintiffs
- Failing to exercise ordinary care to control the dog(s) involved in the attacks
- Failing to exercise ordinary care to monitor and supervise the dog(s)involved in the attacks
- Failing to exercise ordinary care to ensure that the dog(s) involved in the attacks could not escape from the defendants’ property
“Plaintiffs were not negligent in connection with the occurrence in question, the dog attacks were unprovoked, and Plaintiffs deny any allegation by Defendants and/or each of them that anything Plaintiffs did or failed to do was a proximate cause of the occurrence in question,” the lawsuit said.
Christian Alexander Moreno and Abilene Schnieder Moreno remain in jail on several criminal charges.
A funeral for Ramon Najera Jr. is scheduled for Thursday.
Even though the lawsuit seeks $1 million, a jury will ultimately decide how much money will be awarded.