Jocelyn Winfrey, 53, of New Haven, was attacked in the 1500 block of Ella Grasso Boulevard around 7:45 p.m. on June 20 and succumbed to her injuries, according to city officials.
Police started investigating when they were called to the house at 5:47 p.m. last Monday. Winfrey was treated and rushed to Yale-New Haven Hospital and died a week later.
The owner of the dogs, 36-year-old Hamilton H Hicks, of New Haven, was trembling and covered in dirt and blood when officers arrived.
Hicks, a Yale University psychiatrist, had been able to get one of the dogs inside his home and told officers the other was contained to the yard, but not secured, according to police.
He told officers that he and Winfrey walked onto his property and into the fenced in area where the dogs were when the attack happened. Hicks, who sustained dog bites, was also brought to the hospital.
Police said he had three bags of crack cocaine on him and was charged with possession of narcotics.
Local
Because of his injuries, he was issued a promise to appear on that charge. He lawfully owned the dogs and they were on his property, so he will not be charged in connection with the attack, police said.
The two dogs were quarantined and are scheduled to be euthanized, according to police.
A spokesman for the mayor's office initially said the dogs were pit bulls, but New Haven's animal control officer said the dogs were American bulldog mixes.
