Kimasha Begay of Gallup said her son, Kayden Colter Begay, was visiting his paternal grandparents, David and Sharon Begay, in Seba Dalkai and had followed his aunt out to get the cattle when a pack of 12 pit bulls owned by the family’s neighbor, Marlinda Begay (a relation on Kayden’s father’s side) attacked him.
“From what I was told, the aunt didn’t know Kayden had followed her,” said Kimasha Begay, holding back sobs. “She turned around and saw the dogs gathered around something. She went to see what they were doing, and that’s when she found my son.”
Kimasha Begay said she was told the left side of Kayden’s face had been torn off and his thigh was gnawed to the bone.
According to Kimasha Begay, people in the area had repeatedly complained to the Navajo Nation Rangers about the pack of dogs attacking livestock, but nothing was ever done.
“They weren’t registered, they weren’t vaccinated, and they were skin and bone,” she said. “They were probably hungry.”
Kimasha Begay said by the time she drove from Gallup to Seba Dalkai after she learned of her son’s death, the police and Rangers were there.
“They destroyed some of the dogs, but I don’t think they got all of them,” she said.
A spokeswoman at the Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations Office in Dilkon confirmed that Criminal Investigations is investigating the incident. No charges have yet been filed.
The family has put up a GoFundMe page, “Funeral Expense for Kayden Begay,” to help defray funeral costs.
Kimasha Begay described her son as “the happy kid who ran around shaking everyone’s hand.”
“He loved to watch bullriding, and he loved to follow his nali around,” Begay said.
(Navajo Times - July 18, 2016)
