dog attack

Controversy brews over memorial plaque honoring late Kemah police chief at Nassau Bay dog park

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Call to remove dog park plaque because honoree's dog attacked child

Some residents want a plaque that honors Chris Reed, who was Kemah's police chief when he drowned in 2019, to be removed because a 9-year-old boy was severely attacked by Reed's dog in 2011.

NASSAU BAY, Texas (KTRK) -- There were some heated moments at a small town city council meeting Monday night over a memorial plaque at a dog park dedicated to a late city manager and in the end, there was no decision.

Chris Reed was the chief of police in Kemah when he died in a tragic drowning in 2019 near the Texas City Dike. Before his tenure in Kemah, he was city manager in Nassau Bay from 2009 to 2015 and a driving force behind major development in the small town near NASA's Johnson Space Center.

He was well respected and well remembered for all of his contributions in the area.

Friends and family gather to remember Kemah PD Chief Chris Reed

In 2020, a plaque was dedicated in Reed's memory at the dog park at David Braun Park. Now, three years later, a newly-appointed park board member wants it removed, and for a very personal reason.

Mike Barrett sits on the Nassau Bay Park Board. In 2011, his son, Jack, who was 9 years old at the time, was attacked by Reed's dog and suffered deep gashes to his face, neck, and back.

Now, there's a campaign to remove the plaque from the dog park.

City council members listened to public comments, including those from Reed's youngest daughter.

"I would like to know how the council came to this decision. What came about to have the council consider the decision to my father's memory? Why would the council of the city that my father worked in for many years then go around and try to hide this from my family after we had already lost him?" Alexis Reed asked during public comments. "It's heartbreaking and disheartening."

The lawsuit claims negligence and wrongful death against the container ship whose wake allegedly caused Reed to fall overboard.

"My concern is for Jack Barrett to live every day with those wounds, scars, and memories -- that the dog park is named after Mr. Reed is insulting, and I think it's to our benefit to reconsider that," said the injured boy's neighbor, Brian Klock.

The argument consumed much of the over three-hour city council meeting on Monday.

In the end, they settled on a compromise. The council voted to create a subcommittee made up of two city council members and representatives from both the Reed and Barrett families.

The subcommittee will come up with a proposal about what to do next and present it at the next meeting on Nov. 13. Then, the city council will vote on it.

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