The Lucas County Coroner’s Office on Thursday determined a 31-year-old central Toledo woman died of a dog bite to the neck.
Emily Kahl, of the 600 block of Hamilton Street, died Sunday, the coroner’s office said. Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a deputy coroner, said the woman suffered bite trauma to the neck. Toxicology tests are pending, but the manner of death was ruled an accident.
Toledo police did not have a report or other information immediately available, a spokesman said. A member of Ms. Kahl’s family declined to immediately comment Thursday afternoon other than to say the family does not know the circumstances surrounding the incident and is waiting for more information.
The Lucas County Canine Care & Control seized the dog, a “pit bull” named Romeo, on Monday from a relative who had been caring for him and Ms. Kahl’s dog after the incident. Romeo’s owner, Thomas Holloway, who lives at the same Hamilton Street residence, visited the shelter Wednesday to surrender him. The dog was euthanized Thursday.
Reached briefly by The Blade, Mr. Holloway said he was not home at the time of the incident. He indicated he believes someone else was in the home with Ms. Kahl.
“I think the dogs were trying to save her,” he said.
Kelly Sears, director of the shelter, said the agency was not called to assist police, but the fatal incident occurred in the home.
“We do not know the circumstances this dog or [the victim] were in when this happened,” she said. “We feel extremely bad for the family.”
A spokesman for the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department confirmed a medical crew was dispatched to the address after a call at 7:45 p.m. for an unconscious person. The victim was declared dead at the scene.
Ms. Sears noted cases in which people are killed by dogs are “extremely rare,” and a wide range of factors contribute to each individual dog-bite case.
Records from the county shelter show Romeo had been taken to the shelter in October, 2019, as a stray, then reclaimed by Mr. Holloway. There are no other reports with the agency regarding the canine before Sunday’s incident.
Neighbor Christina Hughes said Romeo was always very friendly and that she doesn’t believe the dog could have killed a person.
"I grabbed the dog by its face, played with it, and he wasn't aggressive,” she said, adding the dog had also played well with her nieces whom Romeo had never met before.
Ms. Kahl’s obituary, published Thursday in The Blade, said she graduated from Springfield High School in 2008 and worked for a time as an administrative counselor at Sunrise Recovery Center before earning a certification as an insurance and coding specialist. She enjoyed traveling, listening to podcasts and music, playing jokes on her two brothers, and caring for animals, including her own dog, Nash.
Visitation and a funeral service is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with burial to follow on Monday.
First Published July 22, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
