Florida woman loses power of speech as she's perp-walked over claims she let her pit bulls maul woman to death, then faked heart attack as she was arrested

By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 14:06, 1 June 2026 | Updated: 14:14, 1 June 2026 A shameless Florida woman allegedly faked a heart attack as she was arrested after her two pit bulls mauled her helpless neighbor to death. Linda Cutler, 29, was arrested and charged with manslaughter last Wednesday in connection to the death of Jodi Cowan, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said. The 50-year-old had been walking her dog near her Cocoa home on May 19 when Cutler's dogs Max and Mako escaped their owner's fence and attacked her.  Horrifying surveillance footage shared by the sheriff's department showed the moment the dogs charged towards Cowan, who tried to protect her own pet.  Max and Mako forced Cowan to the ground, 'viciously' attacked her and dragged her across the ground for 'quite some distance,' Ivey said. Cowan's husband Donnell Smith heard her screaming and raced outside in an effort to save his wife. He found her lying in a pool of blood with bites all over her body. Smith then started swinging a knife at the dogs and drove them away, police said. He called 911 and Cowan was life-flighted to a nearby hospital, where she died about four hours later.  Linda Cutler, 29, was arrested and charged with manslaughter last Wednesday in connection to the death of Jodi Cowan Cowen, 50, had been walking her dog near her Cocoa home on May 19 when Cutler's dogs Max and Mako escaped their owner's fence and attacked her Horrifying surveillance footage shared by the sheriff's department showed the moment the pit bulls charged towards Cowan. They forced her to the ground, 'viciously' attacked her and dragged her across the ground for 'quite some distance Cutler had been staying at a Hilton hotel on the beach in nearby Melbourne, Florida at the time of the attack, according to the sheriff. She 'feigned having a heart attack' as officers tried to take her into custody, Ivey said. She was taken to the hospital before being booked into Brevard County Jail. The sheriff, who personally escorted Cutler into jail, shared video of her perp walk. 'Hope you enjoyed your time at the beach because you're not going to be going back,' Ivey said to her as she was marched from the police cruiser to the jail doors. 'What is the purpose of that?' handcuffed Cutler questioned. 'A woman is dead and two dogs are about to be euthanized because of your uselessness, so have a nice visit,' the sheriff replied. Cutler appeared dumbfounded, stuttering and seemingly at a loss of words, as the officers hauled her inside. The sheriff's office had received calls from neighbors about Cutler's dogs roaming free in the neighborhood that date back to 2024.  Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who personally escorted Cutler into jail, shared video of her perp walk. He said that she 'feigned having a heart attack' when officers first tried to arrest her As he walked her inside, Ivey said: 'A woman is dead and two dogs are about to be euthanized because of your uselessness, so have a nice visit.' Cutler appeared dumbfounded by the comment Cutler's dogs Max and Mako are due to be euthanized According to investigators, Cutler admitted in a sworn statement that she knew her dogs routinely escaped from her yard. She also knew they had previously bitten someone else and had become 'more aggressive,' Ivey said.  Cutler's arraignment is scheduled for June 23. Max and Mako are due to be euthanized. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.