An Alabama woman convicted after her dogs attacked and killed two women in 2022 — including a public health worker who was investigating the first attack — could be sentenced to as much as 41 years in prison if the judge imposes the maximum penalty.
In November, Brandy Dowdy, 43, of Red Bay, was found guilty of one count of manslaughter, one count of criminally negligent homicide and two counts of violating Emily’s Law, which increases penalties for severe dog attacks, News 19, WAFF, and the Franklin County Times report.
The case centers on two separate attacks just days apart. Summer Beard, 58, and Michele Sheeks, 44, were both attacked by a pack of dogs linked to Dowdy, and each later died from their injuries.
Dowdy was convicted of manslaughter in connection with Beard’s death.
Beard, a longtime Alabama Department of Health employee, was following up on the earlier attack involving Sheeks when she was attacked in May 2022. “It is believed that Beard was attacked as she was attempting to contact the dog’s owner when she was killed by the dogs,” the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Days earlier, Sheeks had been walking along County Highway 11 in Red Bay on April 28, 2022, when she was attacked by the same dogs, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheeks was hospitalized for months and died of her injuries in July 2022.
In Sheeks’s death, Dowdy was convicted of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
During trial, Dowdy’s attorneys argued she was not the sole owner of the dogs involved, ABC 33/40 reports. Dowdy’s daughter, Abriana McMillian, testified that dogs were often abandoned in the area where the family lived and that her mother fed them, along with other animals, ABC 33/40 reports.
However, the lead investigator testified that Dowdy did own the dogs responsible for the fatal injuries, though he could not specify which dogs were involved, ABC 33/40 reports.
Dowdy’s attorneys have said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Dowdy was originally scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2026, but the hearing was postponed after her attorney was unable to attend due to a medical emergency, the Franklin County Times reports. Dowdy requested a new lawyer, and her sentencing is now scheduled for April 28.
Following the conviction, Dowdy was taken into custody and remains jailed while awaiting sentencing.
Dowdy is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia, and the judge said she could apply for release for treatment at a later time, WHNT reports.
Beard, of Muscle Shoals, served as an environmental supervisor in Franklin, Marion and Winston counties, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). She worked for the health department for nearly 17 years.
“Summer was known to her coworkers as an exceptional person. She was a tremendous team worker and was loved by those who knew her,” Ryan Easterling, the director of the ADPH’s Health Media and Communications Division, said in a statement.
After the attack on his wife, Wesley Sheeks spent months by her bedside at a hospital in Jackson, Miss. “Unfortunately, she never got the chance to leave that hospital,” he told News 19.
Dowdy’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
