The Kenneth Dobbins dog drowning case has escalated to a murder charge after Kern County prosecutors filed the more serious count against the 68-year-old California man accused of allowing his three dogs to chase a 12-year-old boy into a lake where the child drowned. Dobbins now faces second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and allowing a dangerous animal to go at large resulting in injury, according to KGET, the Bakersfield-based local television outlet. A separate report from Newser cited a first-degree murder charge; the discrepancy could not be reconciled from the available sources, and Law News is treating the local outlet’s account as the working record pending court confirmation.
The victim, Fernando Torres Moreno, was a Kern County resident, the Los Angeles Times reported. He died after jumping into Central Park Lake in California City, a small city roughly 100 miles north of Los Angeles, on 18 June. Police were called just after 6 p.m. following reports that a boy had entered the water running from dogs and had not resurfaced.
What the Kenneth Dobbins Dog Drowning Charges Cover
The California City Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department initially charged Dobbins with involuntary manslaughter and negligent ownership. The murder count was added by Kern County prosecutors as the investigation developed.
A search warrant obtained by Bakersfield television station 23ABC provides detail beyond what police initially described. Authorities allege that Dobbins himself entered the water to retrieve his dogs, according to the warrant documents reviewed by TurnTo23, but made no attempt to help Fernando as the boy struggled to stay above the surface. After pulling his animals from the lake, Dobbins walked away calling for the dogs to follow, leaving the child behind.
Officers arrived within six minutes and got Fernando’s body to the surface, where they began CPR. He was transported first to Adventist Health in Tehachapi and then to Children’s Hospital, where he later died. Police recovered him ‘at the bottom of the lake,’ the California City Police Department said.
Fernando’s 8-year-old sister, who had been present at the lake, was attacked by the dogs after they returned to land. She was treated for serious bite wounds at Antelope Valley Hospital and subsequently released.
Arrest, Arraignment Refusal, and the Search That Found No One Home
The investigation moved quickly in the days after Fernando’s death. Officers initially accompanied Dobbins back to his residence to photograph him and his dogs on the evening of the incident, but he was not arrested at that point because the boy had not yet died. Dobbins spoke to investigators the following day, acknowledging there had been an incident at the park involving children but denying his dogs were vicious, according to the warrant.
When officers later sought to serve a search warrant at his residence, Dobbins and all three dogs were gone, the New York Post reported. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies subsequently located him in Lancaster and returned him to Kern County.
Kern County Sheriff’s Office records show Dobbins was formally arrested on 25 June 2026 at 5:16 p.m., at an address in California City, under court case number 26BFA02275. He was due to appear for arraignment the following Monday but reportedly refused to attend the hearing.
Fernando Torres Moreno was remembered in a GoFundMe fundraiser set up to cover funeral expenses. ‘Fernando was a bright, loving boy who brought joy to everyone around him,’ the appeal reads. ‘He loved spending time outdoors, playing with his siblings, and making new friends. His laughter and kindness touched the lives of many, and his absence leaves a hole in the hearts of his family and community.’
The Kenneth Dobbins dog drowning proceedings remain at an early stage. Whether Dobbins enters a plea and which murder count ultimately proceeds to trial will be determined once he appears before the Kern County court, a step he has so far declined to take.
