COLUMBUS, Ohio — Susan Withers, one of the two people charged in the deadly Ashville dog attack, appeared before a Circleville Municipal Court judge Tuesday morning. Judge Elisa Peters found enough evidence to bind the case over into Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas for consideration by the grand jury.
Withers, while not the dogs’ official owner, had purchased tags for the dog, cared for the dogs while Adam Withers was incarcerated in the Franklin County Jail, and had contact with the Pickaway County Dog Warden according to Ashville Police Officer Bryan Cline.
During Susan Withers’ preliminary hearing, Officer Cline walked through the findings of the department’s investigation of the dog attack against Jo Echelbarger, 73, on October 17.
He also detailed the events of a dog attack in October 2023 which killed another dog and broke the bones of a woman. It was after that attack, Adam Withers’ brown dog, Apollo, was ordered to be registered a dangerous dog according to court records.
Ohio state law requires dangerous dogs to be confined and restrained on the premises of the owner, the dog must be leased and muzzled if taken off property, and liability insurance must be acquired to cover future attacks among other requirements outlined in Section 955.22 of the Ohio Revised Code.
Municipal court records obtained by 10TV October 22, Adam Withers failed to meet some of the requirements on multiple occasions, some of the cases were dismissed.
10TV attempted to ask Pickaway County Dog Warden Preston Schumacher why the dogs were not removed from the Withers before this month’s attack. He referred the question over to County Prosecutor Judy Wolford. Wolford said since the case, until today, was handled in the municipal court, it was out of her jurisdiction. She also said previous cases hadn’t made it to her either and were the issue of the Circleville City Law Director Kendra Kinney.
10TV reached out to Kinney to ask why the dogs were allowed to remain with their owners after the October 2023 attack and why some of the cases earlier this year were dropped. She responded that last year’s attack would have fallen under her predecessor Gary Kenworthy. She wrote in an email to 10TV that “the dismissals for all except the August 2024 were results from discussions with the prior law director or a re-filing based upon those discussions. I cannot comment as to those discussions as I was not a party and no current employee of my office has that information. The dismissal in August of 2024 was based upon an incorrect charge filed by the dog warden.”
The next stop was to former law director Gary Kenworthy. He said that 2023 case was likely handled by deputy law directors working under him at the time and he didn’t have any recollection of the case himself.
Susan Withers’ attorney asked for the charges against Susan Withers to be dropped since she was not the official owner of the dogs. Judge Peters said since she had harbored the animals in the home and obtained licenses for the dogs.
Adam Withers is scheduled to appear before the judge Wednesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing.