SAN ANTONIO – A lawsuit filed against the City of San Antonio and City Attorney Andy Segovia on behalf of an 81-year-old man killed in a brutal dog attack has been dismissed, according to court documents obtained by KSAT.
The attack happened on Feb. 24, 2023, in the 2800 block of Depla Street, located off U.S. Highway 90 and Cupples Road. Ramon Najera was trying to save his wife, Janie, from two 65-pound pit bulls when they turned on him.
Ramon died in the front yard of the seamstress he and his wife were visiting. Janie’s injuries were so severe that she needed special wound care at a local hospital.
In September 2024, the Najera family sued the City of San Antonio and Segovia for damages arising from “a grievous and preventable tragedy.”
In a federal ruling issued on Tuesday, a judge dismissed the claims that amounted to seven accusations made against the City of San Antonio and Segovia.
‘Official-capacity’ accusation
The court found that the Najera family’s “official-capacity” accusation against Segovia, San Antonio’s City Attorney, were “redundant” because the family had already named the city as a defendant in the same lawsuit.
Counts No. 1 and No. 2
Additionally, the Najera family’s claims alleging due process and equal protection violations under the Fourteenth Amendment were dismissed because the judge was not given “any facts to suggest socioeconomic or race-based discriminatory animus” by any city official, the filing states.
Counts No. 3 and No. 4
In their ruling, the judge also dismissed the family’s claims under the Monell Doctrine — which alleged that the City failed to train, supervise, screen or protect residents from dangerous dogs — because a “Fourteenth Amendment violation” had not been established or proven by the family in the lawsuit.
Count No. 5
The wrongful death and survival claims under Texas law were also dismissed due to the lack of a viable constitutional claim against the City, documents said.
Count No. 6
The court also rejected the family’s claim based on the state-created danger doctrine, court-issued documents show.
Background
The pit bulls 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. Moreno has since been sentenced to 18 years in prison. His wife, Schnieder, was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
Najera’s family attorney, Marion Reilly, said the lawsuit was filed because it was not the first time the dogs had attacked someone.
The lawsuit stated that the dogs had been deemed dangerous and taken off the street before, and city officials were aware that these dogs had been involved in two to three incidents prior to the February 2023 attack.
According to the lawsuit, Animal Care Services (ACS) still released the dogs back to the owners, resulting in severe injuries to Janie and the death of Ramon.
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.
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