RED BAY- A trial date has been set for a Red Bay woman charged with two counts of manslaughter after her dogs allegedly attacked another woman and a state worker in separate incidents.
Brandy Lee Dowdy, 39, was indicted on two counts of manslaughter after authorities said her dogs attacked Michelle Ann Sheeks in April 2022.
On April 28, 2022, Sheeks was walking near her home when her husband said she was attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Investigators say that several dogs dragged Sheeks down a hill and a neighbor got the dogs away from her before calling 911.
Her injuries were so bad that it took six surgeries and grafts to stabilize her. Sheeks later died due to complications from those injuries on July 12.
Those same dogs are also accused of killing Jacqueline Summer Beard, an Alabama Department of Public Health worker who tried to follow up after the April incident. Dowdy was arrested and charged with manslaughter in connection with Beard’s death.
Dowdy also faces penalties under Emily’s Law, signed by Governor Kay Ivey in 2018, which imposes felony penalties on owners of dogs that seriously injure or kill a person depending on the circumstances surrounding the attack.
Emily’s Law, named in memory of Emily Colvin, who was killed by dogs outside her home in Jackson County in 2017, provides for felony and misdemeanor charges depending on the circumstances surrounding a dangerous dog attack.
Dowdy pleaded not guilty last October to both charges of manslaughter.
The jury trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Judge Brian Hamilton’s courtroom at the Franklin County Courthouse on April 10, 2023. A pretrial hearing is set for March 23.