Colorado woman arrested after some of her FIFTY dogs maul her disabled mother to death

PUEBLO, CO - A Colorado woman, 47-year-old Jessica Hoff, was arrested Friday after authorities alleged that some of the fifty dogs she owns attacked and mauled her 76-year-old mother to death. The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office revealed in a press release later in the day that Hoff has been charged with criminal negligence resulting in death/at-risk adult and 54 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals/death. The harrowing attack reportedly took place on February 3.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, PCSO Deputies answered an emergency call reporting an unconscious woman at the home of LaVonne Hoff, the suspect’s mother. When they arrived they found the woman, a dementia patient requiring 24-hour care, unresponsive. Several dogs were observed running free throughout the home with another 24 caged along with seven birds. The 76-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, and the County Coroner confirmed the cause of death to be a dog attack.
 

Sheriff's deputies arrested Jessica Hoff, 47, on a felony warrant in connection with the death of her 76-year-old mother, who died as a result of dog attack in February. More at https://t.co/hssaeaNYVE pic.twitter.com/PRIQccv4lE

— PuebloCounty Sheriff (@PuebloCountySO) March 22, 2025

Detectives launched an investigation into the woman’s death and found that her live-in daughter Jessica Hoff had left her mother alone and unattended in the home while she ran errands in Pueblo, approximately 26 miles away. The investigators found that while LaVonne was alone she was fatally attacked by the dogs that were allowed to roam the residence.

Acting upon a search warrant, authorities subsequently searched the home as well as a second property owned by the suspect in Colorado City, between both properties they discovered a total of 54 dogs and seven birds which were found to be living in unsanitary conditions with several of the dogs in poor health. Animal Law Enforcement was summoned by the Sheriff’s Office and seized the dogs and birds.

The Associated Press reported that Hoff was still in County Jail as of Monday and is being held on a $50,000 bond per county records. Charges have not yet been filed by prosecutors. Court documents cited by the AP revealed that the suspect is being represented by a public defender.