Both owners of dogs that killed Volusia County child now facing felony charges

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Both of the owners of the two dogs that fatally mauled 8-year-old Michael Millett are now facing felony charges.

Brandy Hodil was arrested overnight on a charge of tampering with evidence. She has since posted bail.

Amanda Franco now has a warrant for the same felony evidence tampering charge. She was charged with a misdemeanor earlier this week of owning a dog that was not previously declared dangerous but caused great bodily harm or death.

The sheriff’s office confirmed Franco turned herself in on both charges Friday afternoon.

Volusia County detectives submitted affidavits for review to charge both of them with tampering with evidence. State Attorney William Scheiner signed off on it.

Investigators say both women discussed their dogs’ violent tendencies with a neighbor on Facebook. Investigators say the pair also deleted messages about the dogs being loose the night of Michael’s death.

Michael was killed in his neighborhood near DeLand in January. The case was moved to the 18th Circuit in Brevard County due to a conflict of interest in Volusia County.

The state attorney and sheriffs office agreed to work on additional charges shortly before Wednesday’s announcement of Franco misdemeanor charge. Scheiner wouldn’t comment on that at the press conference because, as a prosecutor, he couldn’t at that stage.

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