‘Good boy, get him’: Woman sentenced for siccing pit bull on man in deadly attack

ROCKCASTLE COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) - A woman in Kentucky received her sentencing Monday after she pleaded guilty to the death of a man her dog killed in 2020.

Melissa Wolke was sentenced to 20 years in prison, WKYT reported. Wolke pleaded guilty in October of this year.

Wolke was charged in the death of 55-year-old Donald Abner in what officials described as a vicious attack.

Authorities said the pit bull attack occurred at Wolke’s home on Jan. 10, 2020.

Responding officers said the pit bull was acting so aggressively they were unable to help the victim and had to shoot the dog.

Kentucky State Police Detective Ryan Loudermilk testified in court that a neighbor of Wolke told him they were hearing party sounds that night before what sounded like an attack.

Loudermilk said when the neighbor checked out the sounds, they said they saw Wolke on top of Abner, assaulting him and saying, “Good boy, get him,” to the dog.

The neighbor reportedly then called police and captured video of the attack on a cell phone. However, investigators said the witness was scared for their safety to approach the scene and ended up deleting the video because it made them “sick to watch.”

Officers said they were unable to recover the video and did not find any additional surveillance video from the scene.

When investigating the inside of Wolke’s home for evidence, officers said they found no noticeable signs of disorder or struggle.

Loudermilk also testified that during his interview with Wolke, he said she appeared distraught and began crying while repeatedly saying, “Oh my God, I went ‘redneck’ on him.”

Investigators also said Wolke told them she didn’t remember much and couldn’t recall any fighting. She also reportedly told detectives that she has a bad history of drinking and even gave it up for some time because of previous troubles with alcohol.

Wolke allegedly said she has a history of blacking out on alcohol and warned Abner that she could blackout.

According to Wolke, Abner was staying at the house for about three months before the incident. Investigators said Wolke told them the two had been good friends for 20 years without showing any anger during an interview.

Officials said Wolke told them the dog’s name was Denali and that he was a former fighting dog but friendly and obedient while she owned him.

The initial cause of Abner’s death from an autopsy report came back as asphyxiation.

The coroner said Abner had a broken bone in his neck but that the injury wasn’t consistent with dog bites.

Copyright 2022 WKYT via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.