Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Couple Caught in a Lie About Baby's Horrifying Dog Attack: Police

Episode Date: August 31, 2025

Emily McKinney and her boyfriend, Joe Johnson, are accused of lying to Kentucky State Police troopers about a dog attacking Emily's 10-month-old child. The attack happened in March 2024 and left the child with serious head injuries. Troopers said McKinney and Johnson lied about the dog that attacked the baby being a stray when it was actually Joe's dog. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at the case and body-camera footage from the interview of the couple in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Producer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Any dog can turn at any time. That's a mom talking to police about a dog after her baby is mauled, and she claims it was done by a stray dog, but police say that was a lie. I understand, like, if we would have just told the truth from the beginning of it in a base year. I take a look at this sad case out of Kentucky and the charges a mother and her boyfriend are facing after the attack. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Our furry pets are like family. In fact, they are a part of our family, but they are not more important.

than our children. The kids come first, or at least they should come first. But state police say in Kentucky, a couple chose to protect a dog in themselves after the dog attacked a 10-month-old baby. This case is out of Russell Springs, Kentucky. That's about 85 miles south of Lexington. The population a little more than 2,800. So this is a small, small town. Kentucky state police troopers went to talk with Emily McKinney and Joe Johnson, a day after they took Emily's 10-month-old baby to the hospital in 2024, claiming that the child had been attacked by a stray dog. Can you just like be 100% honest with me? Do you think that she's going to say that the baby has to go? It really just depends on how, I guess, how safe the environment she feels like it is.

Right. That's going to be, you know, clue. She's not to think about, you know, where the dog's at, which in here, what Conley's injuries are. Right. It's kind of everything to do with the house. Um, whatever she gets from talking to you guys and him. Now, Emily McKinney is 27 and her boyfriend, Joe Johnson, is 30.

So Emily isn't a super young mom. And her baby suffered serious, serious injuries, including multiple skull fractures and brain injuries. According to the initial report, the attack occurred while the baby was playing in the yard with three other siblings. Troopers went to the home and tried to find the stray, but their efforts were not successful. It wasn't until the biological father requested help. through KSP that officers grew suspicious of the initial claims. The concerned father felt like his ex was withholding information, and as the investigation moved forward, troopers determined that that stray was actually a dog owned by McKinney's

new boyfriend, Joe Johnson. Now, this was not a stray dog at all. KSP troopers responded back to the home to check on the children to make sure they were okay and to hopefully figure out the truth about what happened. But, like... He saved your house about, Mary. I don't know what are you doing? No, no, no, not here, but I had my back turn. Now, law enforcement arrived with the county dog warden and emergency management to locate this dog.

This could be a vicious, vicious animal. And at this point, they know the stray dog story isn't adding up. And the stray really doesn't exist. I don't know. I said. I said I'm not trying to incriminate you. Yeah. I am.

I'm trying to incriminate you. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm not trying to discriminate you. I said, I'm not trying to incriminate. Yeah.

I'm not trying to incriminate my body or not now. But I won't. It's not. Okay. Yes, sir. Because this is not a stretch now. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Is it off. The $1. Is it acted? Okay, hey, hey, listen, listen, I'm going to go down the path, the line is, okay? All right, all I mean, it is because I want to make you for you for you, I'm not, I'm being unbiased, I'm not for you, I'm poor you, I'm for you, you, understand that. Okay, okay? I'm not, I'm not going to lie to you because, like you said, you're not going to try to take us to jail or whatever.

I'm not going to take them by jail, accident happened. Accidents didn't happen. But I'm going to make sure to keep you safe. Right. And I'm going to tell you right now, I'm getting rid of my dog. I have a Labradale. Obviously, I'm not going to send him to a pound because it's not his fault that something like this happened. That's his dog.

Where's his dog? It's not here. It's not here. It's not going to pass it and it will lobby back. Right. And her name is. So, all right. So we have to go all right.

So we have to go all. all the way around this. That's the dog that's the doctor. Yes. Okay. We just did not. Now, let's just go back to the start. Okay.

Because I can see what dad will be frustrated. I can see what you're scared. Yes. There's a reason crime fix is one of the top ranked shows on YouTube right now. Just like there's a reason why Morgan and Morgan is America's largest injury law firm. They're a firm with more than a thousand attorneys and that's because they win a lot. Morgan and Morgan has recovered more than $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. In the last few months, a client in Florida received $12 million after the insurance company

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So just there, the couple admits that they lied about the incident to spare the dog by attempting to hide it for its own protection, meaning the initial statements by Emily and Joe, according to troopers, were not true. And first responders wasted resources for hours looking for a dog that didn't exist. It turns out the dog was actually living with them. Joe owns the dog with another woman,

and they both cared deeply for that dog. We had gotten home. The dog is very, he's not aggressive, the kids played with it. We're a few guys. he was eating and she did grab his tail we were sitting there in the liminal she was crawling down in the floor and he was eating in the kitchen she grabbed his tail i won't even say she grabbed his tail because i don't know i didn't see it but that's what i assume would happen

because he was eating so but the part about it he did not have a hold over for minutes or anything like that. Within five minutes of her time, I was at Russell County, ER. Right. Holding my baby, whom I thought was going to honestly not be here today. So this is what I'm, you understand that you lied in the beginning. This is the day it's concerned because there's nothing done for anything to the beginning. Absolutely. There should have been homes filled out except because helping social service.

The only reason that I did it is because, I know, the only reason that I did it is because I know that this dog is never coming back to my house. I'm never going to be around my children again. I understand that. But it's a dangerous situation. His dad don't know what the situation is. I understand that. I would be pissed if it was just or else were reversed.

I wholeheartedly understand that. Because you've lied, though. There has to be something for them. Because you can't force dad. There's an accident certain thing here. I can understand my dad with my whole right number of children here. Now, no, I did this moment because I'm not trying to take your kids away from you, but because of their lives, that after they got home from you, he contacted that day, he contacted that day, he contacted the other owner to come get the dog and attempt to hide it to protect it. But the damage was already done.

Social Services was contacted because of the complaint by Emily's X. And a prevention plan was put in place to have him take custody of the children. If there ain't something temporary, so we need to sort of take your kids away from forever, but they don't need to be out here and they go to school next morning and 11 o'clock or not. And I don't want, I don't want dad thinking this baby's in the case here. Well, you can search the house. The dogs, my dog is here, but if y'all want to take it tonight, you can have it tonight. I just don't want it to go to the path.

her dog to her are like my babies are to me and so i wouldn't want you guys to come and take my baby so i don't want you guys to go and take her we're not trying to but if you were to be a situation but if he's been a situation you'll lose um just a night we get this all sort of doubt. I can't force you to do that. I'm asking you, would you agree to do that? I would prefer that the baby not go tonight just because of everything that's happened. Well, because of everything's happened, I can see your point of view and I see my point of view. Well, I think that if he comes here and...

I understand that. I think that if we can get Jody here and it can just be me, you and Jody, with nobody else in his ear or nobody else, that we can all come to an agreement that, you know, because I'll tell him, like, he can take my dogs or whatever, there's not going to be any more dogs around my kids. It scared me that bad, so. There's nobody, we, as surface, is not, like, movement on your side, that's, like, that's, I understand, like, if we would have just told the truth from the beginning of it,

wouldn't even be here. But at the same time, it's a scary situation. And I didn't want the dog to be put down because it's her baby. Just like, no, and I told her this today, if the dog wouldn't have killed my baby, you guys wouldn't have been here anyways, but you might have been have been taking me to jail for kill a little. But I think at the end of the day, I shouldn't have lied to begin with. And we're here. This is where we're at. But I do think that dad and I can get along and I support the kids. I mean, at the end of the day, that's what. The couple agrees to let the officers into the home. Listen, this house is a match, so I'm a real big miss.

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But Emily appears to use a similar tactic to avoid trouble. So this is temporary. I was losing my house and I found whatever I could get in so that I wasn't homeless with four kids. So this is only two bedrooms. And four kids, two bedrooms, you know, it's a situation. Mass don't head up too well. No, we're looking for something bigger and just trying to, like I said, This was what we could find that we weren't going to be home with.

You got to do what you got to do. Yeah. I was just doing what I thought was there. Police find a home that is not clean enough for a child, especially one with open wounds and severe injuries, and it only gets worse from there. According to the uniform citation, the house had the odor of dog feces,

and a second dog was located inside the residence. During investigation, the baby became hungry, at which point the mother had trouble, even finding a bottle to feed the child. Insufficient sleeping conditions appeared to be a mattress lying on a floor. So officers find a hot mess inside this house. Troopers also make contact with the female owner of the dog that attacked the baby. And she confirmed Joe Johnson's actions. No, like the dog catcher, well, I have to get it, and it would have to have that on the stage of the time. Right.

Because, you know, you'll have to be held for so many days and no process. And that's why I feel in the beginning, those things should have been known so we could have done all that that day. But because it's alive, that is, now we have to do it all. I'm asking you to do this. Fouts a middle ground tonight and before you were with that. Because we wouldn't meet it in my young people. I'm not going to take the kids. But we don't need kids out here because they're going to talk.

Well, I would like to see you guys if you were at today to say. Well, what I'm saying now is you have to find some other ground social workers. That's a little bit of them. I should have to be hurt. Now the dog Wharton went to the residence where the dog warden went to the residence where the dog was being hidden to remove it. She said that you guys are going to get my dog. Oh, yeah, we're going to do what I got to. It should have been done that day. It'll have to go. You know, I'll have to go with the dog catcher in the dog catcher with this,

and it will have to stay with him. I have to have all that shots and all that stuff. What if I show you all proof of the shots? That doesn't matter? They have to do a hold on the dog. How long? It don't know. I don't.

I don't. I don't. I don't. That's my mow. I understand. I'm not. I'm just asking for perspective. I'm just a lady and a dog. I don't know. I just have it. I just have it. I just have it to give it a dog or something. I don't know. I just have it. I just have it to give the dog from me. That would be the best thing to do. Concerned about the possibility of losing her children, Emily McKinney attempts to explain the situation between her and her ex to the troopers. or if she has to go and go.

I would say chances are he's probably going to encourage that as he goes with him. And I'm not going to be an ass, but I am going to say if he's going to be an ass to me and insist that all these kids go, I'm going to call my dad

and my dad is going to get the oldest. Yeah. Because quite frankly, frankly, Legally, she has, like, there's nothing. He had the opportunity to adopt her and said no. So. So legally, I'm not, I'm not required to let her leave with her. If social services has to take her to copies or wherever.

Yeah. So be it. That's definitely going to be a question for the social worker. Um, it's normally under normal circumstances, as far, you know, as like any sort of custody agreement, you know, as long as it follows that. She's not even included in our, the best papers. No, because legally, legally, legally nothing to him, like she was mine, I brought her into the marriage. Right.

And I would certainly could contact her dad, but you'd probably take him to jail because he'd probably have some drug on it. He ain't seen her since she was 5'1. Are you okay if I'll call him? No, you can go just let her know that I am sorry that it came to this, but we should have just returned from the beginning. So normally, you know, you're right, whenever you say I would know this, it sounds like just kind of everything that's going on right now I would ask the social work. I'm just a social worker about that. I'm telling you, like, I don't want to be an ass. I don't.

I don't want to take. He is the only consistent dad that you've ever known. But if he's going to be an ass to me because of one mistake that I made, then. I mean, that's all fair and good. But at the end of the day, we have most of you need to do to figure this out. He did not, being rude to each other is one thing, but don't be rude to each other in such a way that he's going to affect the kids life. That's the thing. Does he think that taking the kids away from me is not going to affect the kid's life?

Probably the same way as like a dog might cover up, I'd say, or something like that. So, I mean, we're going to figure something out tonight, and whatever it's going to be, it's going to be, it's going to be tamper. whatever it's going to be um that's when they decided on social or something to change now like I said both of you need to kind of figure that out probably about a month later a grand jury indicted the couple for falsely reporting an incident and tampering with physical evidence prosecutors also charged Emily with first-degree child abuse and endangering the welfare of a minor both were booked into the Russell County Detention Center on a $10,000 bond and At the time of this recording, Emily McKinney's case is still making its way through the courts.

She has a motion hearing next month, and Joe Johnson's case is scheduled for a hearing sometime next year. And we'll stay on top of the case for you. That's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanet Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.