11-month-old baby killed by a Pitbull dog

An 11-month-old baby was mauled to death by a pitbull dog while her mother slept downstairs.

Chloe King, 21, found baby Ava-Jayne Corless lying on the bed with her body floppy and blood on her.  The mother of the baby who was in her boyfriend’s house at Lancashire had fallen asleep downstairs with her boyfriend. 

 

She said the dog had be secured in the kitchen but had gotten free and gone upstairs and attacked the baby.  The child died of multiple injuries inflicted by the pitbull (which is actually a banned breed).

At an inquest, the mother of the baby said, ‘’I walked into the bedroom. The landing light was on but the bedroom light was not. I remember seeing there was a dark stain about halfway down the bed. I noticed the dog was in the bedroom and I thought, what is it doing there.

'Ava was halfway down the bed. My initial thought was that I needed to pick her up. I knelt on the bed and picked her up. She still had a blanket on her. Ava was really floppy.

'I had only just woken up. At that point I had not realised blood was on her. I thought she was in a deep sleep.

'I laid Ava on the bed, kneeling over her, cuddling her, Ava made a grunting noise. I was giving her kisses, talking to her ... Lee was screaming "is she all right?" I got my phone and said I need an ambulance now.

'I turned the light on, I saw Ava pale, her lips were really white. I thought she was asleep for a split second. I then noticed drops of blood on the floor.

'I ran out in the hallway. I thought I was going to pass out. I felt sick and I collapsed on the floor. I thought I (had) woke up in a nightmare and it could not be happening.'

Miss King said she believed the dog, called Snoop had been blocked in by a speaker and a golf bag stand in the kitchen when she put her daughter to bed that evening.

In a statement read out to the court she said: 'I gave her [Ava] a kiss and told her that I loved her like I always did at night.

'I told her she was my dream girl and gave her another cuddle. I left the room about 8.45pm and went downstairs. We put a film on and I fell asleep. When I had fallen asleep the dog was in the kitchen.' 

The couple woke up at about 11pm and went upstairs where Miss King was initially baffled by the appearance of the dog in the bedroom. 

She said: 'I thought maybe the dog had been chewing a toy on the bed.

'I laid her (Ava) on the bed and started cuddling her. I was holding her close and she was making a grunting noise.

'I was giving her kisses and said "you need to wake up now, come on."' 

Only when she turned the light on did Miss King realise how badly injured her daughter was. She rang paramedics who tried to revive the child before they took her to the ambulance and to hospital. She died shortly afterwards at 11.53pm. The inquest heard that the dog was usually kept away from Ava, but that night she had a 'nasty cough' and the bedroom door had been left open so Miss King could hear her if she woke up.

After her daughter was taken to hospital Miss King was arrested on suspicion of child neglect and was taken to a police station in Blackburn where she was later informed her daughter had died that night. 

Source: Dailymail