A Texas man is facing multiple felony charges after his three pit bulls mauled a neighbor to death — and was slapped with the offenses just one day after he was charged with murder in a separate case.
Marshall Garrett, 38, faces a completely unrelated murder charge on top of three counts of dog attack resulting in the death of his neighbor, Harriette Phillips, last month, KTRK reported.
Phillips, 65, tried to fend off the vicious dogs with a hammer on March 23, before crying out “Help. Help,” as she fell to the ground and was fatally mauled, records obtained by the outlet state.
Hours before Phillips’ death, neighbors had texted Garrett that his dogs were digging on Phillips’ property, to which he replied that he was “about to get it resolved.”
Phillips’ hair and pieces of her clothing were found in the bellies of the pit bulls, according to a criminal complaint obtained by People.
Neighbors who spoke with Houston police said Garrett’s dogs often escaped and acted aggressively, with one neighbor saying she had recently been bitten by one.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office announced on April 9 that Garrett would be charged with three felony counts of attack by dog resulting in death. All three of his dogs were euthanized following the fatal attack.
The charges against Garrett come one day after the DA charged him with murder in a separate incident dating back to October 2024.
Police say Garrett and a female suspect, Latrecia Washington, violently assaulted 69-year-old Alton Martin outside a Family Dollar store in Houston.
The deadly attack reportedly stemmed from a dispute over $140 and Martin later died from his injuries. An autopsy determined his manner of death to be homicide and listed the cause as blunt force trauma.
Garrett, who was out of jail on bond at the time of the fatal dog attack, was back in police custody as of Tuesday.
