Babysitter sentenced to prison for fatal dog attack

A babysitter whose dog mauled a 4-year-old girl to death was sentenced to about a decade of prison time.

Jasper County District Court Judge Richard Clogg sentenced Jena Wright, 26, on Monday to 10 years in prison for neglect of a dependent person, plus 10 years for child endangerment, one year for assault on a police officer and two years for interference with official acts.

The sentences will run concurrently but it’s still unclear just how long her total sentence would last, according to a Jasper County court clerk. She faced up to 35 years in prison when a jury found her guilty on May 14.

She was accused of leaving Jordyn Arndt, 4, unsupervised with her American Staffordshire terrier, Brutus, when it attacked in April 2013. Wright was baby-sitting the girl at the time of the attack.

Wright’s defense attorney argued his client didn’t knowingly put the girl in danger, but testimony throughout the week-long trial revealed someone had previously been bitten by the dog in Wright’s presence. Another witness testified that Wright had mentioned that she thought the dog was aggressive.

Court papers say Wright assaulted Prairie City Police Chief Louis Modlin during her arrest and “inflicted bodily injury” while Modlin was in the performance of his duty.

Authorities say Jordyn was attacked in Wright’s backyard as Wright cared for the girl, whose mother was at work.

Wright called 911 and told the dispatcher that her dog had attacked Jordyn. She said the girl was not breathing.

“We need an ambulance,” Wright told the dispatcher.

The dog was euthanized.

Harmon Wesley Wright III, one of the dog’s owners, had said that although Brutus growled in some situations, he had never bitten anyone.

Harmon Wright had told the Register that he wasn’t sure what went wrong. He raised the 5-year-old dog from the time it was a puppy, and his 3-year-old daughter has been in the same house as Brutus since birth, he said.

“There is no reason to suspect the dog would have done anything to any children,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.