A BABY has died from his injuries after he was used in a tug-of-war between three pit bulls while a teen girl desperately tried to save him.
Babysitter Heather Rodriguez, 36, was arrested and charged for the death of one-year-old Jiryiah Johnson, who she was supposed to be watching at her Texas home when he was mauled to death.
Jiryiah Johnson, who died just weeks after he started preschool[/caption]
Heather Rodriguez’s mugshot when she was booked into the Bexar County Jail[/caption]
The toddler was left with Rodriguez, who lives with her 13-year-old daughter at their house in Converse, which is about 15 miles from San Antonio, Texas.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said Rodriguez went out of the home, leaving the baby boy with her teenage daughter and the three dogs.
He said the teen and the baby were in a bedroom with the door closed to stay away from the dogs.
“The door leading into that room was already damaged by the dogs at some point,” Salazar said at a news briefing.
The dogs broke through the door and began to attack the toddler as Salazar said the beasts fought with the girl over the child’s body in a “tug-of-war” that lasted for several minutes.
The girl then locked herself and the baby in a bathroom before the dogs forced their way in again and continued their brutal attack.
Rodriguez’s daughter tried to fight off the dogs before she ran to her phone to call 911.
The boy was hospitalized in critical condition with several bite wounds to his face, head, and neck.
He suffered severe throat injuries that left him unable to breathe on his own before he died on Monday night.
His mom, Erika Castro, told local CBS affiliate KENS that she didn’t have time to process what happened to her only son.
“I’ve been shaking, I’ve been having panic attacks,” Castro told the outlet.
Castro said she knew Rodriguez had dogs but had been assured they would be kept away from her toddler.
“‘I wish she’d had stayed like she said she would’ve, instead of going into work like she got called into work,” Castro said.
Rodriguez was arrested at her home on Monday morning as her dogs were taken by authorities.
In a house full of vicious dogs, what did this lady, the suspect, think was going to happen?”
Javier Salazar
She was charged with a first-felony charge of injury to a child with serious bodily injury by omission – and police say she might face further charges for her daughter’s injuries.
“In a house full of vicious dogs, what did this lady, the suspect, think was going to happen?’” Salazar said.
Salazar added that upon Rodriguez’s arrest, she seemed more concerned about her dogs’ wellbeing than the baby, who was still fighting for his life at the hospital at the time.
PREVIOUS CALLS
He added that cops were already aware of the dogs due to calls about them in the past.
Rodriguez had also previously received a citation for having them unleashed.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
After refusing to give a statement to police, Rodriguez is in Bexar County Jail with a $100,000 bond.
Her teen daughter is being hailed by police as a “hero” for her efforts to save the baby.
FAMILY’S HEARTBREAK
“I thank that girl because she did her best,” Castro told KENS.
According to the young mom’s Facebook page, the one-year-old just started early preschool in August.
She told KENS that her son was a “goofy, loving baby who was fascinated with dinosaurs and Bluey.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for the family as Castro and her partner, Julian Johnson, asked for prayers and support on social media.
