River ‘won’t die in vain’: Central Texas couple opens up after foster dog was killed in nearby neighborhood

BEVERLY HILLS, Texas (KWTX) - A Central Texas couple is demanding justice tonight after they believe a resident in a nearby neighborhood shot their foster dog.

It happened the night Isabela Lozano and Alex Resendez got engaged. The night took a devastating turn after the death of their dog, River.

Lozano and Resendez took River in during the freezing temperatures this past winter, Resendez says at the time she was extremely skittish, and spent most of her time under the Christmas tree where she felt safe.

But eventually, River came around. The couple put an air mattress in the living room and spent all their free time loving on River which helped break her out of her shell.

But now, that bond that took months to form is reduced to memories on a phone screen.

“My first question was to the officers, ‘Where’s the body, how do you know that’s our dog, how do you know that’s our baby?,’” Lozano recalls from when she found out her dog had been killed.

Ring camera footage shows River walking by homes off of S. 31st St. just moments before her life ended.

Resendez and Lozano say they also don’t know where River’s body is, making this even more difficult.

River’s sister, Lake, was with her at the time. A witness tells Alex that Lake ran off because the flashlight on the rifle scared her, and that’s probably the only reason Lake is still alive.

“Lake went up to River’s body and was smelling around. He turned the flashlight on on his rifle and it startled Lake so she ran away. So I am just thankful and blessed to be holding Lake,” Resendez says.

Bobby Chandler, 64, and Angelita Chandler,70, were charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals, tampering with evidence, and possession of marijuana after allegedly shooting their neighbor’s dog, criminal complaints state.

Neighbors reported hearing gunshots, followed by a wounded dog’s cries, at about 4:00 a.m. on June 6 in the 1200 block of South 31st Street.

A witness told police they witnessed the Chandlers in the middle to the street picking up a dog with a reflective vest and leash, and then placing the dog in a trash bag, the criminal complaint states. That same witness said the Chandlers then used a water hose to wash the dog’s blood off the roadway.

According to the criminal complaint, the witness further said the Chandlers then took the trash bag containing the dead dog into their home. This was reportedly recorded on video, and the footage was turned over to police, the document states.

“Sufficient evidence was collected to obtain a search warrant for the suspect’s residence, and during the execution of the search warrant, the Beverly Hills Police Department seized multiple firearms and discovered a usable amount of marijuana,” said Beverly Hills Police Chief Kory Martin.

The dog killed was a German Shepherd named River, a dog rescued by a local family, police said. Police said River had been out of the yard and at the time of the incident, and was wearing a reflective vest and leash.

Police said Bobby Roy Chandler had reported animal problems in the area the day before, and officers had met with him regarding the issues. “Bobby was warned not to discharge firearms to deal with the issue by a Beverly Hills Police Officer,” said Martin.

A Beverly Hills Animal Control Officer also visited the area the evening before the incident and asked for permission to place a trap in the yard to help, but Bobby Chandler Chandler refused, police said.

“We know that they intentionally did not report the incident to our agency, so we could investigate as soon as it occurred. We are very sad that we could not recover the body of River and her personal effects on the family during the search warrant. We did make an attempt to see if Angelita would provide us with the location of River’s body, so we could return it to the family, as they wanted to have the ability to find some peace. As it is her right not to self-incriminate, she refused to provide the details of River’s location,” said police in a statement,

Anyone with information about the location of River to please contact Beverly Hills Police Department at 254-752-2585 and report it as the family would appreciate the ability to mourn their loss with River being laid to rest.

Resendez says, “Neighbors recognized me from my Facebook post and one-by-one came up to me to tell me that Bobby Chandler has totally terrorized that neighborhood. Neighbors were calling my River a hero, so she won’t die in vain.”

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