The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office released their findings Thursday, which detailed an investigation into the June 14, 2012 incident.
"Based on these findings and the history and circumstances of the death as currently known, the cause of death is best listed as penetrating craniocerebral injuries due to a dogbite and the manner of death as accident," Chief Medical Examiner Glenn Wagner said in the report.
The report describes the injuries in detail—some of which may be disturbing in nature to readers. In summary, the report indicates the dog bit the 20 pound boy in the head, causing severe trauma and brain damage.
The attack on Tyzhel Latella McWilliams happened just before 5 p.m. on June 14, 2012, at a home on West Street where the boy lived with his mother, who was renting a room from a friend, according to the report.
The Examiner was told by Lemon Grove sheriff's deputies that two of the mom's friends were in a room smoking marijuana shortly before the attack happened.
"The pit bull that was normally kept indoors was in the room and starting getting 'frisky'," the report says. "They pushed the dog off of the bed and at the same time the decedent came crawling into the room with his mother close behind him. The dog turned its attention to the decedent and bit him once on the head."
One of the mother's friends apparently bit the dog on the ear, to get it to release its grip on the child. The women placed a towel on his head, in an attempt to apply pressure and control the bleeding, the report indicates.
[I don't know why they say the dog 'bit him once on the head' when clearly it says he latched himself onto the baby's head and began gnawing and wouldn't release. That's why the woman bit the dog in the ear. There's a big difference between a dog that bites and retreats and a dog that locks itself onto a body part and begins munching away.]
Emergency personnel arrived shortly after a 911 call was placed, and transported McWilliams to the Rady Children's Hospital Emergency Department (ED).
"Despite aggressive resuscitative efforts, he could not be revived and his death was pronounced in the ED," the medical report said.
A total of three pit bulls were seized by animal control officers and confiscated from the home. Only the one suspected in the attack was to be euthanized, officals said following the attack.
(Lemon Grove Patch - Feb 14, 2013)
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