3 pit bulls maul owner's elderly mother to death

A woman in Georgia is facing reckless conduct and felony involuntary manslaughter charges after the three pit bulls she owned viciously attacked her mother to death, according to reports.

On the evening of October 7, police were called to a Troup County residence after a neighbor heard an elderly woman screaming for help out of a window, claiming that her sister had been attacked by dogs. When police arrived, they discovered Rosetta Gesselman, 80, lying on the floor and "suffering from visible wounds," according to Sgt. Stewart Smith.

Police also found three pit bull and pit bull/mastiff mixes, one female and two males, at the residence, and all three were behaving very aggressively. As a result, one deputy "had to deploy O/C [pepper] spray in the direction of the dogs," which caused the dogs to exit the house through a "doggie door," Smith added.

Despite the pepper spray, the dogs continued to demonstrate aggression, compelling "first responders" to put two of them down on the property that evening. The other dog was later euthanized as well.

Meanwhile, an ambulance raced Gesselman to Well Star West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange, Georgia, about an hour and a half southwest of Atlanta. Unfortunately, Gesselman later died from her injuries.

Her daughter, 48-year-old Tongia Gesselman, who owned the dogs, was later arrested after it was discovered that she may have previously known about the dogs' aggressive temperament. WGNO reported that the dogs had already killed "family pets" and had bitten at least one other person who then required medical treatment at a hospital. According to WSB-TV, Tongia never reported those incidents to the police.

Tongia and Rosetta Gesselman shared the residence where the attack occurred, though Tongia was not at the residence when it happened. Tongia Gesselman has reportedly pled not guilty and remains in jail on a $6,000 bond.