FLORIDA -- A 17-month-old Jacksonville boy died today after being attacked by a chained Rottweiler when the boy broke from his mother and went into a neighbor's yard, police said.
The attack that killed Dylan Andres occurred just before noon in the 1000 block of Maynard Street off Norwood Avenue, said Chief of Detectives Tom Hackney. A neighbor who witnessed part of the attack said the boy was bitten in the neck. He was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville hospital.
The attack that killed Dylan Andres occurred just before noon in the 1000 block of Maynard Street off Norwood Avenue, said Chief of Detectives Tom Hackney. A neighbor who witnessed part of the attack said the boy was bitten in the neck. He was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville hospital.
Hackney said the boy and his mother, Destiny Kieszler, had gone to the grocery store, returned and were in front of their house. He said the child got away from his mother as she was unpacking groceries. He wandered into a neighbor's yard across the street and was attacked by the dog, which was chained to a pole in the front yard.
Hackney said the Rottweiler bit the child repeatedly.
Neighbor Jessica Golden said she'd just been to the store with Kieszler and Dylan and was in her house when she heard the mother's screams. Golden ran outsid and saw Dylan's father trying to pull him away from the dog.
"The dog had the baby in its mouth," said Golden, trembling and holding an unlit cigarette. "The baby was full of blood. It was just a tragedy."
Hackney said the Rottweiler will be euthanized. He said police have no reports of trouble with that dog, though Golden said the dog chased her before. The owner of the Rottweiler was not home at the time of the attack, Hackney said.
An aunt, who declined to give her name, but said the boy's father was heartbroken. Two other aunts standing near the scene wept as they spoke about their nephew.
Keisha Jones, 28, said she last saw her nephew Thursday.
"He was an energetic little boy. He was adventurous," Jones said. "This is so sad."
Aunt Tamika Clark said Dylan loved to play with balls.
"He brought us a lot of joy," Clark said. "He had the brightest smile that lit up a room."
Neighbor Joseph Ellard, 24, said he heard a bunch of screaming and dogs barking. He said he left his house, grabbed a stick and ran to the scene to find the boy's mother holding the victim. He said the victim was covered in dirt and blood.
"She [the mom] was very hysterical," Ellard said. "She was screaming, 'Take me to the hospital. The dog bit my kid.' They said the kid got loose ... but I don't know exactly what happened."
Ellard said his girlfriend took the child and the mother to the hospital in a car. The father is still on the scene, talking with police. Animal Care and Protectives Services workers went toward the home with tools used to capture dogs.
Ellard's sister, Gina, said she also heard the screams of the boy's parents and heard her brother yelling that the dog had bitten the boy.
"I heard the mother screaming, 'The dog's got the baby! The dog's got the baby!'" Gina Ellard said.
The sadness of the loss could be heard in a conversation Jones, the aunt, had with her two young children as they stood near the scene. When asked about their cousin, Jones said, "Dylan's not with us anymore. He's with God."
The last dog-attack death in Jacksonville involved a days-old baby and the family's pit bull at their Dickson Road home Oct. 24, 2010.
In October 2004 at a Jade Drive home, a 5-week-old Jacksonville boy was killed by a pet mutt that jumped on a bed while his grandmother left the room for a minute.
(Florida Times Union - March 9, 2012)
