Penny Bashlor and Steven Kachmar appear in Middle River Regional Jail mugshots.
Two Virginia grandparents have reportedly been charged with murder and other offenses after a dog fatally attacked their 7-year-old granddaughter earlier this year. The girl’s parents are also facing criminal charges, the Waynesboro Police Department and the Waynesboro Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in a joint press release this week.
According to the authorities, a grand jury indicted Steven Christopher Kachmar, 60, and Penny Lee Bashlor, 64, on charges of non-capital murder, involuntary manslaughter, child abuse, child cruelty, and a charge related to the keeping of a vicious dog that caused a serious injury to a person. An area radio station and the online obituary identified Kachmar and Bashlor as the attack victim’s grandparents. The offenses carry a maximum possible penalty of up to 70 years in prison, the police press release said.
The girl died on Jan. 29 in a home on the 200 block of Parker Heights Road in Waynesboro after a 4-year-old Rottweiler attacked her, the press release said. Local news reports identified her as Olivia Grace Floyd. An obituary for the girl says she died at Augusta Health in Fishersville, Virginia.
“Olivia was a 2nd grader at Wilson Elementary,” the obituary says. “She loved cheerleading, gymnastics, dance, unicorns and animals. She attended Linville Creek Church of the Brethren in Broadway. Olivia was a spunky, sweet and caring little girl who got along with everyone and loved life.”
Those who attended the service were asked to wear pink and purple, the girl’s favorite colors.
The murder statute referenced in online court records in Kachmar’s case is a felony murder statute. It reads (in relevant part) as follows:
The killing of one accidentally, contrary to the intention of the parties, while in the prosecution of some felonious act . . . is murder of the second degree and is punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five years nor more than forty years.
The child abuse statute referenced in Kachmar’s case criminalizes not just an act but also a “willful omission” by a “parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child” that leads to a “serious injury.”
Brooks Anthony Floyd and Alicia Rene Floyd appear in jail mugshots.
Brooks Anthony Floyd and Alicia Rene Floyd, identified on a GoFundMe page as the girl’s parents, each stand indicted on one count each of cruelty which caused injury to a child. That charge could carry a sentence of up to five years behind bars, the press release added.
The GoFundMe raised $29,480 for the Olivia Grace’s final expenses.
“The outpouring of love and support through financial contributions, messages, meals delivered and so much more for Brooks and Alicia has been amazing,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote. “We are so grateful for this amazing community we are a part of.”
A neighbor who spoke with the local newspaper back in January said he’d been warned to keep his distance from the Rottweiler in question. He added that he was often afraid that the dog would jump over its fence.
Local news reports published around the time of the attack say the girl was mauled around 2:30 in the afternoon and that the dog was placed into a quarantine. Kachmar, the grandfather, was reportedly charged initially with keeping a dangerous dog.
The press release incorrectly referenced a subsection of Virginia’s animal cruelty law which does not exist. The charge was actually filed under subsection (D), not subsection (F) of the requisite statute.
Court records in the Kachmar and Bashlor cases say each defendant requested an attorney but do not yet provide the name of any attorney. Both remain locked up in the Middle River Regional Jail, according to the police press release and to online jail records.
Court records say Brooks Floyd has also requested an attorney; similarly, one is not yet named. The police press release says he remains incarcerated. Alicia Floyd’s online case record does not provide any information about an attorney; she was released on a personal recognizance bond.
[Images as noted]