Judge balks at short sentence in fatal pit bull attack on Tri-Cities business owner

A Tri-Cities woman will spend months in jail after her aggressive dogs fatally attacked a Kennewick business owner.

Sara Amilia Madrigal, 34, of Kennewick, was sentenced Thursday on a charge of dog attack resulting in injury or death.

Court documents show that her two pit bulls involved in the attack that led to the death Billene “Billi” Cameron had been declared dangerous and had a history of getting loose.

More than a dozen friends and family members were present during the sentencing in Benton County Superior Court, bringing with them Cameron’s small dog Diego that the pit bulls also attacked.

Madrigal changed her plea to guilty last month. Judge Diana Ruff sentenced her to 10 months with work release, more than double the prosecution’s recommendation of four months.

The maximum could have been up to 365 days.

Ruff said she viewed the case as similar to drunk driving, saying no one leaves the bar wanting to get in a wreck and hurt anyone, but they take that risk.

She said Madrigal similarly knew there was a risk and not only kept the dogs, but did not do enough to keep them secured.

“She had dangerous dogs roaming the neighborhood, she knew they had attacked people and animals before,” Ruff said. “Instead of moving heaven and earth to get these dogs back safely in her yard, she gave up the search and they attacked someone who, in the law, we call an eggshell (victim), who was at heightened risk of dying.”

“I know you didn’t think it would happen, but you absolutely have to have known it could happen again,” Ruff said.

Ruff said she didn’t think it was appropriate to tell the community that if you have dangerous dogs you can let them roam the community and if they kill someone you’ll only get four months.

Madrigal will also be subject to as of yet undetermined amount of restitution and cannot own a dog for the next five years.

Ruff said she hopes Cameron’s family can now find closure.

Emotional hearing

Madrigal’s two pit bulls attacked Cameron in her yard when she tried to stop them from hurting her small dog. Cameron later died from medical complications because of the attack, according to court documents.

Cameron and Madrigal lived in an unincorporated area of Kennewick just off Canal Drive, often referred to as a county “doughnut hole.”

Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge explained that the law limited the state to a sentence of 365 days or fewer, with no consideration for the severity of the crime or the difference between an attack and a death.

He said he tried to find a reasonable recommendation within the sentencing guidelines, and hopes Madrigal will consider what her compassion for the dangerous dogs cost Cameron’s family.

“It’s four months that Miss Madrigal will have to go to jail and face the cost of her compassion (for her dogs),” Grandgeorge said.

Cameron’s husband, Dwayne Woodard said his children lost their mother, her family lost a sister and so many others lost a friend. He lost his best friend, his lover, his partner and much more.

“ If she was here today I’m sure she would ask you for some leniency for Miss Madrigal, yet she’s not and I’m left to figure out why,” he said.

He asked the judge to consider a sentence of six months with work release.

Grandgeorge said no amount of time could bring justice for Cameron’s family.

“This is one of those instances where a just sentence may not necessarily be a just outcome,” he said.

Barbara Cameron told the court that her sister worked hard her entire life and was finally at a point where she could reap the rewards for all of her effort.

“My sister Billi had a long and exciting life ahead of her before her life was cut short by being mauled by two pit bulls,” she said.

“She worked very hard and she was a great friend ... One thing she wanted most in her life was having grandchildren. Her daughter blessed her with a grandson, her little man she would call him,” Barbara Cameron said. “Billi was at a point in her life when she could finally relax, travel and be a grandma. If it wasn’t for this woman’s irresponsible choices, she would be doing just that.”

Hope Woodard said she could not accept that Madrigal just couldn’t bring herself to have the dogs put down, despite them previously attacking others.

“That’s all my mom wanted was a grandchild and this woman gets to still continue to raise her children, and I don’t have a mom to call anymore due to the negligence of her actions,” she said.

Cameron’s other daughter Jordan Woodard said that the idea that justice can be served is inappropriate, because nothing could right this wrong for their family.

“ My mom was the glue of our family that held everyone together, kept everyone included, was the voice of reason, the shoulder to cry on,” she said. “Christmases, birthdays, Thanksgivings ... all of those things will be different now.”

Madrigal addressed the court, telling the family she was sorry and thinks about what happened every day. She said if she could go back and change things, she would in a heartbeat.

“They were my dogs, I should have known better. If I could change things, I would go back in a hurry,” she said. “I just want to express how sorry I am. I know you guys will probably never forgive me, but I swear on everything I love I’m sorry.”

“This is something I will live with for the rest of my life, I promise I think about it every day,” she said.

Dogs declared dangerous

Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge wrote in the probable cause statement that the dogs had previously been declared dangerous by Benton County Animal Control officers and that Madrigal was required to file for a permit to keep the dogs after they attacked a man in 2021.

The two pit bulls, Mando and Macani, originally belonged to Madrigal’s ex-boyfriend, but she kept the dogs after he no longer wanted to be responsible for them, according to the documents.

In 2021, the dogs rushed and attacked a German Shepherd and bit the owner on the hand when he was trying to get his dog away from them. At that time the dogs were declared dangerous and Madrigal and her ex-boyfriend were informed of their legal responsibilities for keeping them when they went to claim the dogs from animal control.

A month later the dogs got loose again, and she had to apply for permits to keep them. She took ownership of the dogs after her ex no longer wanted to be responsible for them after the attack.

A year later, in October 2022, the dogs were again identified as potentially dangerous, according to the documents. The court documents did not provide details about that incident or if it was an annual renewal of the permit , only that Madrigal was informed for at least the third time of her responsibilities as the owner of dogs that had been declared potentially dangerous.

Fatal attack

Billi Cameron was in her back yard on Sept. 20, 2023, when Mando and Macani came into her yard and attacked her small dog, according to the documents.

Witnesses told police that the pit bulls were trying to bite the smaller dog on its neck when she tried to stop them. The pit bulls bit Cameron on her legs and calves, and she retreated inside her house, with the dogs following and still attacking her.

Law enforcement found and caught the pit bulls when they arrived.

When they were talking to witnesses, investigators say Cameron came out of the house seemingly in shock and bleeding profusely from injuries to her legs. She had tried to stop the bleeding, and paramedics applied a tourniquet.

Cameron died at the hospital, according to the documents.

When officers found Madrigal after the attack she allegedly told them that she had kept the dogs in the backyard in part because she didn’t believe it was safe to have them in the house around her children.

Officers said she appeared remorseful and told them she had found a hole under the fence earlier that day and had been working to fill it in and cover it so that if she found the dogs, they wouldn’t be able to escape again.

The dogs were euthanized by Benton County Animal Control after the attack.