Woman killed by her own dog in Roxbury was like "a sister" to Boston civil rights pioneer

BOSTON - The woman who was attacked and killed by her own dog in Boston Monday night has been identified as Jeriline Brady-McGinnis, her landlord and close friend Jean McGuire said Tuesday.

McGuire, 93, is a civil rights pioneer and the first Black woman elected to the Boston School Committee. McGuire said Brady-McGinnis was like a "sister" to her and that they had known each other for years.

Boston dog attack

Brady-McGinnis was mauled by her pit bull Buddha outside their home on Dennison Street in Roxbury around 4:30 p.m., according to McGuire.

"She got attacked some way and they ripped her arm," McGuire told reporters.

Investigators said the dog also attacked Brady-McGinnis's husband as he tried to save her and two Boston police officers. All four were rushed to the hospital. Brady-McGinnis died in surgery, according to McGuire.

Police said the officers and Brady-McGinnis's husband had "non-life threatening injuries." They later confirmed the dog was shot but that his status Tuesday was "unknown."

Jeriline Brady-McGinnis like a "sister"

The attack left McGuire stunned.

"She's very close to her animals, almost like children, I think. She took good care of them. She walked them every day," McGuire said.

McGuire was stabbed multiple times while walking her dog in nearby Franklin Park back in October 2022 . At the time, Brady-McGinnis told WBZ there was "no nicer person in the world" than McGuire and that she "would do anything for anybody."

"I lost my sister. She's a sister," McGuire said of McGinnis Tuesday. "She's a wonderful person, very generous, very loving person, loved animals."

The Boston Police homicide unit is looking into the attack because the injuries were so serious.