One year after fatal Brooklyn Park dog attack, bite victims and their families say justice lacking

It’s been a year since Tasha Karrick’s 3-year-old son Covil Allen was mauled to death by a pair of dogs in a Brooklyn Park backyard. The trauma and horror left her with severe PTSD, but she’s still determined to speak out.

She didn’t notice what led up to the attack — she just heard screams and turned to see the boy’s head trapped in the dog’s jaws.

“I have nightmares, I wake up with cold sweats, and it’s something that I live with every day,” Karrick said during an interview at her Ham Lake home.

As she spoke, Karrick held her newborn daughter Cayden, whose middle name is Covil in honor of the boy so smart that he knew the planets of our solar system in order before turning 3. A deep hole in her calf is a permanent reminder of the dog bites she received while trying to save her son.

Karrick and her husband, Chuck Allen, are one of three Minnesota families who spoke with the Minnesota Star Tribune about their experiences as victims of fatal or serious dog bites. In all three cases, the families don’t think they ever received sufficient justice and are calling for state officials to make changes to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The attacks came amid a surge in serious dog bite incidents nationwide and in Minnesota.

Since 2020, the number of Minnesota charges for harm caused by dogs has increased each year – from eight people charged in 2020 to 22 cases in 2024.

Nationwide, the number of deaths caused by a dog increased each year from 2018 through 2021, according to a CDC report. The nonprofit organization DogsBite.org also found that the number of dog bite fatalities increased from 47 in 2020 to 63 in 2023.

On July 19, 2024, Karrick and her two sons visited a friend’s house to adopt a puppy. The owners’ male and female American XL Bully dogs recently had puppies. The owners were new to breeding animals, Brooklyn Park Inspector Toni Weinbeck noted.

The controversial practice is known as “backyard breeding,” which consists of residents selling puppies out of their home without a license.

Karrick said she and her sons were in the backyard when the owner opened the door to let out the two — thickly built dogs similar in appearance to pit bull terriers — and their puppies.

Karrick was letting the adult male dog sniff her and her son Christian to ensure it felt comfortable, as Covil ran down the hill to play on the slide in the backyard.

The boy’s mother fought to get the dog off. The female dog joined in, biting deep into Karrick’s leg. She spent days in the hospital and had multiple surgeries.

The dog owner jumped in to try and stop the attack as well, Karrick said. She estimated the mauling lasted about 15 minutes.

“It happened so fast, but it felt like we were wrestling those dogs for hours,” she said.

Brooklyn Park officers shot both dogs on arrival. Covil was still breathing despite his severe injuries. He died nine days later in the hospital.

No charges were filed against the dogs’ owners, though there was a financial settlement. Calls to the owners seeking comment were not returned.

“Ultimately, there was no obvious negligence that was occurring on-site,” she said. “That’s what we’re really looking for – to make sure that those owners are responsible.”

At the same time, she acknowledged that it’s a difficult situation for both the victims and the dogs’ owners, given that in some cases they’ve seen the dogs react violently despite being well cared for and trained by the owners.

Weinbeck said the dogs’ owners were new to raising puppies, and that there was no ill intent behind the decision to allow the dog owners and puppies to interact with new people and small children in the same area.

Karrick, however, said she thinks there should have been charges and jail time for the owners. She said she has been reaching out to her local officials to push for some policy changes as well.

“We want laws and we want change of some sort,” Karrick said. “I don’t want to stop until there’s something.”

The fatal incident was followed by another serious dog bite days later. The surge sparked increased efforts within Brooklyn Park police to enforce dog owner laws and enact policy changes.

The number of “dangerous dog” citations issued in Brooklyn Park jumped from 11 in 2023 to 79 in 2024, according to police data presented at a February City Council meeting.

And this spring, the city eliminated a loophole that had allowed residents to have any number of animals younger than six months. Previously, the city prohibited residents who aren’t professional breeders from keeping more than three animals, but that only applied when the animals were older than six months.

Another grisly attack last year led to a misdemeanor charge for a dog owner in north Minneapolis.

Angel Rivers, 29, was mauled along with her two sons who were playing on the family’s trampoline behind their north Minneapolis house in May 2024. She was unsure how the two dogs — reported by neighbors to be American bulldogs — got loose, but she suspected they jumped over a fence.

The assault caused severe scars on Rivers’ arms and significant damage to her foot. The damage was so bad she had to re-learn how to write and walk. She still has additional surgeries to receive for her injuries, she said.

“It bothers me that I was unable to hold my baby for a long time,” Rivers said.

The dogs’ owner, Alonzo Hollie, was charged with a misdemeanor of causing harm to Rivers and her children by negligently allowing the dogs to run uncontrolled from his property. He told police he was not at the home to restrain the dogs when the mauling happened.

Hollie was given a stay of adjudication, meaning his charge will be dismissed if he completes his one-year probation that included a $500 fine and requires he not commit any animal-related offenses.

Hollie’s attorney, Adam Todd Johnson, said he agreed with the result.

After the incident, the dogs were taken in by the city and euthanized. Tony Schendel, director of Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, said he informed the owners the dogs were deemed a risk to public safety given the severity of the attack.

Rivers said she thinks it’s wrong to blame animals for the attacks. Instead, she thinks more oversight and requirements should be placed on dog owners, and particularly those that have a history of aggressive behavior.

“I think people are forgetting that it is an animal, and it has a natural nature to do whatever you train it to do, and I don’t think they’re taking the dogs seriously in these cases,” Rivers said.

Emil Mammadov, a Plymouth-based Uber driver, survived an attack by pit bulls outside of his Plymouth house in October. He doesn’t blame the individual dog, but thinks particular breeds should be banned or required to wear a muzzle and kept in fenced-off areas when in public.

Mammadov was attacked while exiting his car after arriving home. The owner’s mother told police the dogs likely slipped through a sliding door when her boyfriend arrived, according to the criminal complaint.

The owner, Roselia Valbuena-Rico, was charged and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor after police found the animals’ rabies vaccinations were four months out of date.

A phone number listed for her name was not in service, and she represented herself in her criminal case. She was sentenced to 30 days in the Hennepin County workhouse and given a one-year probation.

Mammadov said he is frustrated he had to cover the medical expenses, which included multiple surgeries.

“I have lost all of my trust and belief that I had in justice,” Mammadov said through his daughter, Fatima Mammadova, who was translating from Russian.

She added her dad has PTSD and is sometimes traumatized when he sees a large dog in public.

As the MACC director in Minneapolis, Schendel said he has also seen a rise in bite reports in Minneapolis.

That includes a rise from 245 bites reported in Minneapolis in 2021 to 350 last year. In 2025, there have been close to 300 reports of animal bites in the city.

Schendel wasn’t sure why there has been an increase. But he said the leading cause of bites is because the owners failed to keep their dogs on a leash in public as required.

He said as far as cities go, Minneapolis’ policies are relatively progressive and strict when it comes to governing dog owners in the city.

When someone’s dog is involved in its first incident, a city can designate that animal as “potentially dangerous,” according to Marshall Tanick, a Twin Cities attorney who handles many dog-related cases. If that first incident is serious enough, the city can go straight to registering the dog as “dangerous.”

The attorney said he’s noticing many Minnesota cities, including Minneapolis, being more likely to go straight to a “dangerous” designation if they are in an incident.

Schendel advised residents who see a loose dog to call 311 to report it, or to call 911 if it’s acting aggressive.

He also urged residents to not pet the dogs of strangers, even if the owner allows it.