NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A pet chimpanzee that nearly killed a Connecticut woman never showed signs of violence before the attack, its owner’s attorney said Thursday.

Robert Golger, attorney for Sandra Herold, said the victim, Charla Nash, previously had interacted with the chimp without incident. He also said public officials did not see the animal, which was called Travis, as a threat to anyone.

“It’s a tragic accident,” Golger told The Associated Press. “There was never any sign of violent propensity on behalf of Travis.”

Herold had asked Nash, her friend and employee, to come to her Stamford home on Feb. 16 to help lure the chimp back into her house when it attacked. Police shot and killed the 200-pound chimp.

The 55-year-old woman lost her eyesight, hands, nose, lips and eyelids in the attack. She remains in critical but stable condition at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic.

Nash’s family is suing Herold for $50 million, claiming she was negligent and reckless for not being able to control “a wild animal with violent propensities.” Her twin brother, Michael Nash, has been named her temporary conservator.

Matt Newman, a lawyer who represents Nash’s brother, rejected Golger’s version of the facts but declined further comment on Thursday.

Two other people have said the chimp bit them, one in 1996 and 1998.

Golger said one of the people who said she was bitten had stuck her “uninvited hand” into a car, and the chimp had no teeth at the time.

“I don’t believe there is anything about that incident that would put someone on notice that Travis had or would develop violent propensities,” Golger said.

He denied that the other person was bitten.

Herold has speculated the chimp was trying to protect her and attacked Nash because she had changed her hairstyle, arrived in a different car and held a stuffed toy in front of her face to get its attention.

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