Metro Atlanta woman dies after being attacked by 3 dogs; owners facing charges

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A woman who police said was attacked by a pack of dogs has died.

Prosecutors now plan to upgrade the charges against the dogs’ owners.

Lorena Cordova was dragged into some woods by three pit bulls in metro Atlanta. She survived for two months, but the injuries and infections were too much to overcome.

“It hurts that this happened. She was my mother. I never thought this day could come so fast,” Gabriel Gonzalez said.

For Cordova’s children, time has not lessened the pain of their mother’s death. The family says the neighbors’ three pit bulls had been a constant problem and had bitten other family members before.

But in September, the attack was so severe, Cordova couldn’t escape. Her daughter, Ingrid Alvarado, says she got a call from her mom that the dogs were back.

“When I got there, I found her laying on the ground, and the three dogs were around her,” Ingrid Alvarado said.

Alvarado honked and screamed but couldn’t get the dogs off her mom.

“I thought they were going to attack me, too,” Alvarado said.

Alvarado finally got her mom into her car. Help arrived and the dogs were put down, but Cordova’s injuries were severe. She survived two months in a medically induced coma but died just before Thanksgiving.

“Her body was infected by bacteria,” her daughter said.

Police charged the three dogs’ owners, David and Vickie Clark, with reckless conduct.

District Attorney Danny Porter told WSB this week his team will seek a grand jury indictment next month asking for felony involuntary manslaughter charges.

“We don't really know where we will be or a resolution, but we are moving forward with felony charges,” Porter said.

Alvarado tries to remember her mother the way she was, like in family pictures, not as she battled for her life in her final days.

“She didn’t really look like my mother, at least not the way I was used to seeing her,” Alvarado said.

There is a GoFundMe page set up to help the victim’s family.

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