Jessica Hoff has been charged with criminal negligence in connection with her mother LaVonne Hoff’s February death
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Authorities in Colorado have released the cause of death for the 76-year-old woman with dementia who was killed after being left alone with several dogs in her home in February.
LaVonne Hoff was found dead by officers responding to a report of an unresponsive individual at a Colorado City, Colo., home on Feb. 3, the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement last month.
Officers also found many dogs and birds in the home; several of the dogs were running loose inside the residence.
Investigators said in the statement that the autopsy result indicated LaVonne died after being attacked by the dogs.
Pueblo County Coroner Brian Cotter now says LaVonne died after the dogs’ attack left her drained off her blood. She died as a result of “Exsanguination due to Canine Induced Trauma Injuries,” Cotter said in a statement to PEOPLE.
The manner of her death was ruled as accidental.
The victim’s daughter Jessica Hoff, who had left her in the home to run errands, was arrested in March in connection with her killing. Investigators found 54 dogs and seven birds belonging to Jessica across two properties under her name, per Pueblo County police. The animals were living in “unsanitary condition” and many of the dogs were in poor health, police said in their statement.
