The Toronto Sun reports that a one-year-old boy was killed by pit dogs in Texas on Monday after being left alone with his babysitter’s teenage daughter. The babysitter is facing charges of wanting to seriously hurt someone.
Heather Rodriguez, 36, was meant to watch Jiryiah Johnson at her home in Converse, TX, but she left the baby with her 13-year-old daughter instead.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told the news source that one of the dogs got into the bedroom and attacked the child. Two more pit bulls came and joined the first dog. They bit and scratched the baby.
Even though the 13-year-old kept the baby in her arms, Salazar said, “at this point, it was being described to me as almost a tug-of-war for the baby between at least one of the dogs and the little girl.” The daughter was also bitten by one of the dogs, but she got away from the chaos and called 911. She went back to the bedroom to get the baby out of harm’s way.
The boy was quickly taken to the nearby hospital by ambulance, but he later died from his injuries. Erika Castro, the baby’s mother, was heartbroken over the death of her only child and couldn’t understand why the babysitter had left her child with a teenager and three dangerous dogs.
She said she would stay, but she went to work because she was called in. I wish she had stayed.
Castro told a local news station that she knew the dog sitter had dogs, but she was told that the dogs would be tied up and not be able to get near her child.
Rodriguez was once given a ticket for not having her dogs on a leash when a man was stuck in his car because the dogs were barking and making threats to attack him.
The dogs are being held at Animal Care Services while Child Protective Services looks into the case as well. Rodriguez was also taken and is being held at the Bexar County Jail. The amount of her bail is $100,000.
A news release from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says she was first charged with injury to a child with the plan to cause major bodily injury, which is a first-degree felony.
Since Johnson’s death, the charges have become more serious. Rodriguez is now charged with child endangering causing bodily injury and reckless bodily injury to a child. You can find a GoFundMe page online to help Castro pay for the baby’s funeral and hospital bills.
