[NOTE: Updated news stories identify the dog as a Cane Corso / Mastiff mix.]
Neighbors rushed to the Pacific St. home in Brownsville about 9:15 p.m. after hearing the mother's desperate cries for help when the dog latched onto the boy's throat, witnesses said.
"Help! He ate my baby! He ate my baby!" the mother wailed, according to one witness.
"The baby was bit in the head and neck," said neighbor Anthony Brown, 35. "The baby wasn't moving."
Jayelin Graham was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died.
A chaotic scene unfolded when cops arrived at the apartment as neighbors crowded near the building, witnesses said. A group of people tried to storm the home, but police held them back.
Six people were later arrested and expected to be hit with obstruction charges, sources said.
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| Police remove a pit bull from the first floor of the Brownsville, Brooklyn apartment building where 4-year-old Jayelin Graham was attacked. |
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| A German Shepherd was also removed from the residence, but officials say it was not involved [NOTE: This looks like a Belgian Malinois to me] |
Police were questioning the mother, who has three other young children who live in the apartment. Sources said she faces criminal charges.
Neighbors said the seedy first-floor home of the family was like a small zoo with two pit bulls, a German shepherd, a parrot and a snake.
The family used to own a rabbit, but it was recently eaten by one of the dogs, neighbors said.
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| A chaotic scene unfolded when cops arrived at the apartment as neighbors crowded near the building, witnesses said. |
"People were scared of those dogs," said Kenny Rishar, 50, the super of the building. "The dogs belong to the husband, who is seldom here. This was a tragedy waiting to happen."
Brown said the entire street was afraid of the pit bull that killed little Jayelin.
"It was a violent dog," he said. "Dangerous. A big dog. The whole block is scared of that dog."
Angelica Barriere, president of the PTA at Public School 178 across the street, said she ran over when she heard the screams.
"I think the mother should be locked up, should be arrested," said Barriere, 32. "She had issues. The little boy was not well-dressed and was not clean, but he was a good kid."
A neighbor, Rose, who recalled Jayelin being a "real sweet little kid," said the dogs were kept in a cage.
"When you cage an animal and let it out, what do you think it will do? An animal goes wild," Rose said.
(NY Daily News - May 28, 2011)
