Protecting Her Kids, Woman Mauled to Death by Dog Pack

A mother of three found dead in a yard in Georgia days before Mother's Day was mauled to death by a pack of dogs, authorities say. Courtney Williams, 35, was attacked at her home in Quitman, near the Florida-Georgia state line, after her children got off the school bus around 4:45pm Thursday, USA Today reports. A relative says a dozen dogs belonging to a neighbor initially went after Williams' three children, aged 10 to 14. "When deputies arrived, they encountered several aggressive dogs on the property," said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. A person "had already taken several minors to a local hospital." But Williams couldn't be helped.

Deputies "subsequently located" her body "in the yard of the home," GBI said. "No one was able to get to her because of the dogs," Williams' sister-in-law, Crystal Cox, tells USA Today. "We are just glad the kids didn't see her." Cox says Williams had run to assist her children. The three siblings managed to survive after the eldest, a 14-year-old boy, flagged down a driver, who intervened. "He was an angel that was there at the right time," Cox says of the passing man. The 14-year-old and a 10-year-old girl were uninjured, but Williams' 12-year-old son "was hurt pretty bad" while shielding his little sister, Cox wrote on Facebook, sharing graphic photos of deep gashes in the boy's arms and legs.

Cox said doctors had "stapled him up" and he was resting at her house, along with the two other children and their father. "I do feel for the family and for the kids because now they are going to have to celebrate Mother's Day without their mother," a neighbor told WALB on Friday. Another area resident said "people dump dogs all over the county and no one can get help with them because there's no county animal control." Authorities haven't described the breed of dog or said whether any were euthanized. "An autopsy will be performed by the GBI Medical Examiner's Office to determine the cause and manner of death," GBI said in a release. (More Georgia stories.)