SAN ANTONIO – It was a brutal and bloody scene in February 2023. Ramon Najera was trying to save his wife, Janie, from two 65-pound Pitbulls when they turned on him. He died in the front yard of his seamstress, and his wife’s injuries were so severe she needed special wound care at Brooke Army Medical Center.
It wasn’t the first time these dogs had attacked someone, and that is why a federal lawsuit has been filed, according to Najera’s family attorney Marion Reilly.
The Najera family is suing the City of San Antonio and City Attorney Andy Segovia for damages arising from “a grievous and preventable tragedy.” The lawsuit was filed on Friday.
“Basically because the city had the ability and the potential to stop the dogs once they had them in their possession, and they failed to do that. They really failed to protect the community. And states and municipalities have an obligation to make sure that everybody within their community is equally protected,” said Reilly, one of the Najera’s family attorneys.
In the name of Juanita Najera, Ramon Najera’s wife, and his children, this suit states the dogs who attacked the couple had been deemed dangerous and taken off the street before, and the city knew these dogs had been involved in two or three incidents before the attack on Feb. 24, 2023, on Depla Street, near U.S. Highway 90 and Cupples Road.
The lawsuit states the City Of San Antonio’s Animal Care Services still released the dogs back to the owners, resulting in severe injuries to Janie Najera and the death of Ramon Najera.
The dogs belonged to Christian Moreno and Abilene Schnieder, who were subsequently arrested and charged with a dangerous dog attack resulting in death and injury to the elderly. They pleaded guilty and are in the punishment phase of their trial this week.
Days after the attack, it was revealed that ACS had previously impounded the dogs for another attack and had received multiple complaints about them over the past two years.
It was also disclosed that San Antonio police had been called to the Moreno and Schnieder’s home more than 100 times in two years for various disturbances.
“What’s sad about this is the city has a habit of failing neighborhoods that already have some issues. Something like this would never, ever have happened on the North Side. You’d never have three vicious attacks like this. It wouldn’t stand. But when it gets to disadvantaged neighborhoods, the city just talks about it, but does nothing,” said Stanley Bernstein, one of the Najera’s family attorneys.
KSAT reached out to the city for comment on this Federal Civil Action lawsuit. The City Attorney’s Office released the following statement.
The responsibility for the actions of pets lies with the pets’ owners, and in this case the owners have been found criminally liable. The City has not yet been served with the suit. The City will investigate the claims and address them in the litigation if needed.
The Najera’s attorneys acknowledge the lawsuit won’t bring Ramon Najera back, but it may help others.
“What we can do is we can stop this from happening again, and that’s the hope. And that’s the idea, is that if the city does what it’s supposed to do, that these kinds of things don’t happen,” Reilly said.
Janie Najera has never talked publicly about what happened that day, until now. She sat down with KSAT’s Steve Spriester and talked about the haunting images she still lives with, losing her husband of 45 years, and what justice in her and her husband’s name looks like. You can watch that interview Tuesday at 10 p.m. on the Nightbeat.