The death of Michigan woman Rebecca Hardy, 22, on Dec. 3 has been officially ruled a suicide by the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office, police said Wednesday. Hardy died after climbing into the backyard of a house that owned two violent dogs, a pit bull and a pit bull-husky mix. She was severely mauled by the dogs and died in hospital, reported NBC News.
A witness tried to save Hardy but was unable to intervene. The dog owner eventually calmed the dogs and tried to help the victim, but her injuries were severe and she was airlifted to hospital, according to The Times Herald.
Hardy was the mother of an 18-month-old daughter and the fiancee of Matthew Grattan, the New York Daily News noted. She had been recently kicked out of her house and had previously attempted suicide, noted Oakland County Medical Examiner Ljubisa Dragovic. The examiners said that it was clear that Hardy was aware of the presence of the dogs because she intentionally climbed over the fence.
"It's a sad story, but these are the facts," Dragovic said.
Her family, however, does not believe that Hardy's death was intentional. "I, in no way, shape or form believe that she was looking to hurt herself on that day. She had a little girl. ... She wanted us to be a family," Grattan said, according to The Times Herald. The GoFundMe page created to sponsor a memorial for Hardy states that she was walking home, took a shortcut through the yard, and was attacked by the dogs.
The vicious dogs that killed Hardy have been put down. Controversy has surrounded Hardy's story due to several incidents involving pit bulls and other violent dog breeds, but Hardy's family is trying to avoid engaging in the drama. "It's so much about the pit bulls that it seems like it's not so much about my fiancé anymore," Grattan said.
