pit bull kills infant in texas

Mdog · July 17, 2004

7/16 Pit bulldog kills infant
By JOHNNY JOHNSON, Sentinel Staff

Sonya Dailey's pit bulldog had never shown any sign of aggression until it killed her infant grandson right before her eyes.

Jordan Parker was 8 months and 20 days old.

County emergency dispatchers received a call at 8:25 a.m. Thursday that a child had been seriously injured by a dog.

The call did not prepare the emergency responders for what they found inside the Deer Creek Drive residence. Dailey's white carpet was stained red with the blood.

According to Sheriff Thomas Kerss, there were two dogs at the residence, a pit bull and a pit bull mix, both of which were often kept indoors and had never been any trouble.

Dailey and the child were in the master bathroom with one of the dogs when the other dog entered, and they began to fight, Kerss said.

"The grandmother turned to separate the two dogs, and almost at the same time (the pit bull) grabbed the baby," Kerss said. "She attempted to free the child, and did manage to do so within a matter of a few seconds. But unfortunately the child was critically wounded at that point."

After she freed her grandson, Dailey called for the baby's mother, Tessa Parker, who also lives at the house and was in another room, according to Kerss. Parker called 911 while the grandmother attempted to apply pressure to the baby's head wound and perform CPR.

When deputies arrived on the scene, both dogs were very passive and easily subdued, Kerss said.

"One of our deputies walked over, placed a leash on the dog and led him into the back yard in a fenced area," he said.

The dog was kept there until animal control arrived to take the dog to the animal shelter, where it remains quarantined.

Justice of the Peace Juanita Springer was called to the scene to perform the death inquest, and because the child was under two years of age, Springer was required to order an autopsy.

Dailey has already requested that the animal be "put down," but as a formality, a hearing to determine the fate of the animal is tentatively scheduled today in county court-at-law.

"The grandmother said the dog was 14 years old and had never had any biting incident in the past," Kerss said. "She said it was even very rare for the two dogs to scuffle with one another."

Because a child was killed, Kerss said, investigators had been in touch with the district attorney's office, but he did not anticipate any criminal charges.

"If the animal had a prior history of violence, or if the child had been left unattended, that would be a different set of circumstances," he said. "But there was no past history of any kind of violence with this dog, and the child was being closely monitored when this happened. It's a tragic thing, but it doesn't appear that there was any criminal conduct."

District Attorney Stephanie Stephens said she could not comment specifically on the case, but in a hypothetical case where a family pet had never had a history of violence or had never harmed anyone, she didn't believe that a grand jury would return an indictment. But to protect everyone involved, she said it still might be good policy to present the case to a grand jury.

"It's just a terrible tragedy," Kerss said. "Everybody who responded out there is really emotionally upset about the incident."

The sheriff's office responds daily to animal complaints and reports of dog bites, but Kerss said this is the first fatal dog bite he could recall since he has been with the department.

"I know we get several dog-bite complaints, and some are certainly more severe than others," he said. "And I know that some small children have even been attacked. But the best I can recall, this is the first fatality."

The sheriff's office does not keep statistics on the number of dog bites by breed, and he couldn't say whether there was a higher ratio of pit bull bites compared to other breeds.

"I think the notable difference is that pit bulls are such strong animals," he said. "And when they are involved, there are usually more severe injuries."

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Mdog · July 17, 2004

just goes to show you, you never know. they never had a problem with this dog untill it killed somebody :beer

July 17, 2004

I'm not a big fan of Pits, Chows, Rotweilers, Bull-Mastiffs, Dobermans or any other breed of aggressive atack dogs.

There were bred over hundreds of years to do just that - attack !!!

Would you let some crazy fu.ck babysit your kids???

NOPE. :beer

Don't let your kids play with certain breeds of dogs either.

July 17, 2004

you said it :lol

July 17, 2004

Those dogs are banned In Norway, where my wife is from. And for good reason, in my opinion. These dogs have an aggressive, bloodthirsty nature, which makes them deadly in dog fighting. That's what they were originally bred for.

Image Tint · July 17, 2004

I wouldn't let my son anywhere close to one of these dogs. To many news reports of another person or child being killed by a "friendly" dog.

July 18, 2004

wherever all you people are that called me names for saying I was going to K1ll my neighbors pitbulls, THIS IS THE REASON WHY.

you can all suck my azz. if one of those fukkers ever comes in my yard, he's a dead mutherfukker. :beer

wndotint · July 18, 2004

July 18, 2004

wherever all you people are that called me names for saying I was going to K1ll my neighbors pitbulls, THIS IS THE REASON WHY.
you can all suck my azz. if one of those fukkers ever comes in my yard, he's a dead mutherfukker.

Amen brother.......... K1ll 'em all. The only good pit is a dead pit.