- A Kentucky woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison
after admitting to ordering her pit bull to attack
a man she was assaulting.
The attack resulted in the man's death.
A spokesperson for the Rock Castle County Circuit Court
clerk tells "People" that Melissa Wolke agreed in October
to plead guilty to murder in connection
with the January 10, 2020 death of Donald Abner.
WKYT reported at the time that an arrest citation cites on
that day police received a 911 call about a woman
jumping up and down on a man and assaulting him
while her pit bull mauled him.
The station also reported that neighbors
told authorities that they saw Wolke telling the dog,
quote, "Good boy.
Get him."
At the time, Kentucky State Police Trooper Scotty
Pennington told the station that the way he looks at it,
she used her animal, a pit bull, as a weapon to help
her in this altercation.
Meanwhile, TV reported at the time
that police said Wolke refused to call off her dog
when officers ordered her to command the animal to stop.
A Kentucky State Police release stated that a state trooper
fatally shot the dog in order to render aid
to Abner, who suffered bite wounds on his face, neck,
and head.
He died at the scene.
NBC 15 cited police while reporting that Wolke said
she had a history of blacking out on alcohol
and that Abner, with whom she had been friends with for 20
years, was staying at her home for about three months
prior to his death.
According to the outlet, Wolke told police
that her dog was a former fighting dog,
but had not been violent during the time she owned him.