SAN ANTONIO – After she was sentenced along with her husband Christian Moreno for the death of 81-year-old Ramon Najera, the attorney for Abilene Schnieder said the blame for Najera’s death should be placed on Animal Care Services (ACS).
Schnieder’s attorney Vincent Callahan filed an appeal on Tuesday in the Sixth Court of Appeals District of Texas.
Callahan argues that ACS, who had possession of the two dogs due to a prior dog-bite incident, shouldn’t have released the two dogs back to her without highly restrictive conditions placed on Schnieder.
If ACS then euthanized the dogs, Callahan said, Najera wouldn’t have been killed.
Schnieder still remains in jail after she was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
BACKGROUND:
On Sept. 20, a Bexar County judge sentenced a couple whose two dogs attacked and killed an elderly San Antonio man and injured his wife to nearly two decades in prison each.
226th District Court Judge Velia Meza sentenced Christian Moreno to 18 years in prison. His wife, Abilene Schnieder, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. They faced a maximum punishment of 20 years. The couple was also fined $5,000 each.
Since the charge of dangerous dog attack resulting in death is not considered a serious or violent offense by the state, the defendants will only have to serve 25% of their sentence before being eligible for probation. The defense had sought probation for the couple.
“To echo what most, if not all, the witnesses testified to, this was preventable,” Meza told the defendants prior to announcing their fate. “(Dog ownership) involves not only taking care of your dog, but ensuring the safety of the people in our neighborhoods, in our communities ... and you failed at that.”
Instead of going on trial, Schnieder and Moreno pleaded guilty and the case went straight into the punishment phase.
For three days last week, Meza heard from over 20 witnesses that the state and defense presented.
The state’s main witnesses were neighbors who had complained for years about Schnieder and Moreno’s dogs were loose and had previously attacked two other people.
Janie Najera, the wife of 81-year-old Ramon Najera who died in the February 2023 incident, tearfully and angrily addressed the defendants during a victim impact statement.
“You both took a big part of my life away ... You took my husband’s life. I feel that you’re serving what you deserve for the crime you committed,” she said.
Janie Najera told the defendants that one of her daughters had to take her in due to the injuries she suffered in the mauling.
“‘Cause when your dog attacked me, I could hardly walk. My whole body would tremble. I could hardly get out of bed without any help. I had to have help every day,” she said.
The widow echoed Meza’s comments about the tragedy being preventable.
“You could have done something. You could have realized those dogs needed to be put down,” she said.
Before Janie Najera finished addressing the defendants, she also blamed someone else for her grief.
“Right now, there’s somebody that should be sitting right there next to you guys, and it should be the city. The city should be next to you guys ‘cause they’re guilty, too,” she said.
Saying that Animal Care Services didn’t do enough and had a certain responsibility, the Najera family is suing the City of San Antonio and City Attorney Andy Segovia for damages arising from “a grievous and preventable tragedy.”
ACS had the dogs quarantined weeks before the deadly attack, but a previous bite incident wasn’t ruled serious and after 10 days the owners paid to get them out.
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