By Stephen Floyd
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. 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 ten years in prison.
Prosecutors claim McCleery was at fault because the three pit-bull/bull-mastiff mix dogs that fatally mauled Keeton were known to attack others and McCleery allegedly failed to mitigate this risk.
The incident occurred during the early hours of July 19 at Juniper Ridge, a 1,500-acre wilderness area northeast of Bend known for homeless encampments. Both McCleery and Keeton were camping there at the time.
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.
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.
“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.
