Freak Lightning Strike Kills Mother, Her Two Dogs While Out On Walk

A woman in Los Angeles who was walking her dogs was killed on Wednesday in a freak lightning strike accident after she was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm, killing her and her two dogs in the process.

Antonia Mendoza Chavez, a 52-year-old woman, and her two dogs, Luna and Chubby, were killed in a lightning strike in Los Angeles on Wednesday, with her landlord Gloria Colocho finding that her camera had recorded Chavez’s last moments before she had died, according to the Independent.

“I called her and I texted her and she didn’t answer, and the message was not delivered to the cell phone,” Colocho said. “I checked my camera ... she left around 7:30 a.m. and I see her with her two dogs, and she left the house, and she hasn’t come back at all.”

Thunderstorms had reportedly been happening for most of the night before Chavez had gone out with her dogs. The lightning strike killing would be the first of its kind this year, and the ninth overall death in California since 2006, NBC Los Angeles reported.

“We don’t see this kind of death resulting from lightning. It’s very rare here in this area,” Detective Morgan Arteaga said.

“There were markings on the floor to indicate that some kind of powerful entity did strike the asphalt,” Arteaga then said. “Obviously, this is a very rare occasion, but when the weather is kind of unpredictable, we always caution to stay inside where we know that it is safe, until the weather clears up.”

As thunderstorms caused by the monsoon continue in the area, authorities have cautioned people to be more careful with how they travel due to the potential lightning strikes in the area.

“We should all be cautious with this activity in the area,” City Manager Steve Carmona said. “We want everybody to be careful. There’s a lot of instability in the area. Just be careful and do your best to stay indoors at this time.”