A Bend woman accused of negligently causing the death of a former Silverton man during a dog attack in July has been taken into custody despite recent efforts to quash her warrant.
Jessica Ray Charity, 38, who uses the last name McCleery, was booked into the Deschutes County Jail Oct. 16 for her alleged role in the July 19 death of Joe Keeton, 56.
According to The Bend Bulletin, McCleery was arrested after she arrived at Deschutes County Circuit Court to speak with a judge. As of press time she remained in custody.
During an initial court appearance Oct. 17, bail was set at $500,000 and McCleery was ordered to have no contact with dangerous animals, specifically dogs.
She is due back in court Nov. 7 to enter a plea to charges of first-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. If convicted, McCleery faces at least 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors claim McCleery wrongfully kept three pit-bull/bull-mastiff mix dogs who had been known to attack others, and said the same dogs fatally mauled Keeton during the early hours of July 19. The incident occurred at Juniper Ridge, a 1,500-acre wilderness area northeast of Bend known for homeless encampments where both McCleery and Keeton were living.
The dogs were voluntarily surrendered by McCleery that day and are currently being kept at BrightSide Animal Center in Redmond. A separate civil process will determine if they are to be euthanized, said prosecutors.
McCleery was initially suspected of maintaining a dangerous dog, a class C felony, and the case was referred to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. After prosecutors investigated, they found alleged evidence of more serious crimes and McCleery was indicted for manslaughter Sept. 15.
A warrant was issued for her arrest and she remained at large during the following month. The Bend Bulletin reported authorities believe McCleery was staying somewhere within Juniper Ridge during that time.
McCleery asked to quash the warrant in a letter hand-delivered to the courthouse Oct. 10, requesting instead to be given a date to appear on the charges. The letter criticized the legal system as “flawed” and “dysfunctional” and said an appearance date would cause less trouble than an arrest warrant for both herself and authorities.
“I am very much wanting to get the ball rolling…so that all involved and effected(sic) can get answers, closure and as much as possible start moving on in our lives,” said the letter.
The DA’s Office told Our Town they had no comment on McCleery’s letter.
