NEED TO KNOW
- Angelina Williams, 28, will serve a minimum of 19 years in prison after her 6-year-old son nearly died in a pit bull attack
- The boy had both his hands and ankles in handcuffs at the time of the attack because his mother was punishing him for not cleaning up the dog’s waste, Williams admitted in court
- Williams told the judge during her initial court appearance that she thought it was OK to handcuff her children and did not mean any harm
The mother of a 6-year-old boy who had his throat torn apart by a pit bull while he was restrained and unable to fight off the dog was sentenced to prison last week in Ohio.
Angelina Williams, 28, will serve at least 19 years in prison according to a copy of the judgment filed in her case and obtained by PEOPLE.
Ashland County Common Pleas Court Judge Dave Stimpert reprimanded the mother while handing down the sentence, saying she allowed her son to be treated like a “chew toy” for the animal.
This comes after Williams put handcuffs around her son’s wrists and ankles while punishing him for refusing to pick up dog waste in the yard with his bare hands, according to a copy of the mother’s indictment.
She was then in the process of tying her son to a chair with rope, according to the indictment, when he fell to the ground — and the pit bull owned by the homeowner savagely attacked the boy.
That attack left the boy with severe lacerations on his neck after the pit bull clamped down on his throat and refused to let go.
Once the pit bull was pulled off the boy, the home’s owner, Robert Michalski, Jr., quickly fled the scene with the dog to avoid the animal being removed from his custody, according to the indictment.
In May, Williams entered guilty pleas to charges of kidnapping, obstruction of justice, possessing criminal tools and four counts of child endangerment just days before her trial was set to start.
She will receive credit for the 361 days she has spent in jail, having been held without bail since her arrest back in August of last year.
“That dog tried to rip out his throat,” Stimpert said at Williams’ sentencing hearing. “To see the pictures of the bruising around his eyes and his face from the force and the pressure that dog put on his throat, and then to see the wounds on his neck, I’m not sure that there are words that adequately describe it.”
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Details of the incident were first revealed during Williams’ first court appearance back in 2024.
An attorney with the Ashland County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told the judge that Williams had taken her two children — the 6-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter — to spend time in Savannah, a village of just 300 people located approximately 60 miles south of Cleveland.
During that visit, Williams started using handcuffs and ropes to discipline the children, and even posted an image of her restrained daughter on social media at one point.
Williams confirmed these facts to be true while appearing via video from the Ashland County Jail, but then questioned the judge when her bond was set at $300,000.
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“I feel like that’s high. I feel like the dog’s not even my dog, the cuffs aren’t even my cuffs. I didn’t even know that the cuffs were illegal or anything was wrong with it,” Williams told the judge.
She went on to say: “My uncle told me that it was OK and I never meant any harm, I really didn’t.”
The young boy miraculously made a full recovery and he and his sister are “residing together in the care of a legal custodian where they are receiving appropriate support and protection.”
Michalski and another man, Taylor Marvin-Brown, who prosecutors say was Williams’ lover, were also convicted on multiple charges for their involvement in the attack. They are set to be sentenced later this month.
Williams remains in the Ashland County Jail but will be transferred to the Ohio State Reformatory for Women to serve her sentence.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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