CINCINNATI (WXIX) – New developments unfolded Thursday in the bench trial of a Roselawn father charged in the dog mauling death of his 3-year-old daughter, Kingsley Wright.
Prosecutors showed key surveillance of the attack and statements the father, Warren Houston, made to police that morning.
It was her first visit to his home. Houston had only recently learned she was his daughter.
Prosecutors said Houston knew his dogs were dangerous, having told officers he couldn’t trust Chevy, especially around food, because she was aggressive and had to be fed inside a locked cage.
He couldn’t give Chevy or his other dog, Cookie, toys because they’d tear them apart.
Houston even admitted the cage they shared was, in his words, “rinky-dink and old,” and that the dogs had escaped from it before.
Prosecutors said that the night Wright died, he and his girlfriend were drinking before they left Kingsley alone on the couch and went to bed.
Surveillance video from the early morning hours of Dec. 27, 2024, shows the dogs, which both weighed more than the child, breaking free.
Chevy went for Kingsley’s neck and face. While she was pinned down, the attack moved to the floor with both dogs involved. You could hear her crying. At one point, she yelled “Stop,” but no one came.
The coroner testified that Kingsley died from a dislocated neck and blood loss.
The defense called it a tragic accident that no one saw coming. But a detective and multiple witnesses testified that the warning signs were there and Houston ignored them.
During the playing of that video, Houston became emotional and sought to waive his right to be in the courtroom. The judge granted it and he left the room.
The trial is set to resume Friday with the defense’s cross-examination.
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