Apparent Intruder Breaks Into House, Spends Final Moments with Homeowner's Two Angry Pit Bulls
The home in Newnan, Georgia, had a sign on the front porch showing the front of a pointed revolver. “Never mind the dog,” it said, “beware of owner!”
Both warnings apparently went unheeded by a 21-year-old man, police say — and now he’s dead.
According to WAGA-TV, Alex Binyam Abraha of Atlanta was found dead on the front porch of a Coweta County, Georgia, home on the morning of Sept. 24 when the resident arrived home. While he was found outside of the home, police determined he had been inside the house at some point.
An autopsy’s cause-of-death finding: An attack by the owner’s two dogs, according to WAGA.
The homeowner told investigators he didn’t know Abraha or why Abraha would have been inside the house.
However, sheriff’s deputies say the 21-year-old had active warrants in Fulton County for his arrest.
Coweta deputies say two dogs mauled an intruder who the homeowner later discovered dead on the front porch. I will have the latest on the case on FOX 5 News at 5 & 6. pic.twitter.com/ujefZTmZgc
— Doug Evans (@dougevansfox5) September 29, 2021
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, the sheriff’s department had initially thought Abraha’s death was a homicide and had called in the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.
Authorities would later determine he’d died of the mauling he received from the resident’s two dogs. Abraha, they said, had entered the two-bedroom house in the rural area the previous night and was attacked by the animals.
The dogs, meanwhile were taken into custody by the county’s Department of Corrections. While many on social media were concerned the dogs would be put down, according to WAGA’s Doug Evans, the county stated in a Facebook post that the owner would be able to retrieve them following a quarantine.
The WAGA report is below:
“We want to clarify that in accordance with the Georgia Department of Public Health (Rabies Control), the dogs are required by law to remain in quarantine for 10 days without direct contact to other animals or humans,” the county said in a statement via their Facebook page.
“The confinement must be under the authority of the designated rabies control agency — in this case, Coweta County Animal Services. Following this quarantine, the owner will be able to retrieve the dogs.”
Abraha’s family has set up a GoFundMe page, meanwhile. The fundraiser has only taken in $2,200 of its $25,000 goal as of Monday morning. On the page, the family said they haven’t gotten the answers they want from authorities.
“As horrible as dealing with death is, his family has to deal with confusing and unclear details from the police, with no concrete evidence or story,” the page states. “The family was also notified days after his death.”
“The family was told by an investigator on the case that they would be working on the autopsy, yet there was an article posted stating an autopsy was already finished and concluded.”
While one understands the confusion and pain almost any family would feel, particularly over the loss of a young life in this manner, there aren’t many alternative explanations for Abraha’s death, nor is there evidence of a cover-up or substandard investigation.
Abraha had open warrants, indicating the young man at least had some brushes with the law. It’s difficult to suss out why he was inside the house, whether it was a mistake or for financial gain.
Whatever the case, if you break into someone’s home, you can end up paying the ultimate price. If it’s not by a gunshot wound or some other weapon, it could be at the hands of dogs trained to guard the house.
From all appearances, the only — and best — explanation is that he entered the wrong house and his luck ran out.
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