A one-year-old boy was mauled to death by his babysitter’s pit bulls, who used the baby in a ‘tug of war’ as a 13-year-old girl desperately tried to save him.
Jiryiah Johnson was in the care of 36-year-old Heather Rodriguez at her home in Converse, Texas, before leaving the baby alone with her teenage daughter.
Following the brutal attack, which lasted several minutes in several rooms of the house, Johnson was hospitalized in critical condition with bite wounds to his face, head and neck.
He suffered serious throat injuries and was unable to breathe on his own before tragically passing away on Monday evening.
Babysitter Rodriguez was arrested on charges of injuring a child with great bodily harm by negligence — and she could face further charges for her daughter’s injuries, police said.
One-year-old Jiryiah Johnson was mauled by his babysitter’s dogs and used for ‘tug of war’ before dying in hospital from his serious injuries
The dogs described as “XL pits” were previously known to be problematic, and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office had previously responded to calls about their behavior.
Heather Rodriguez, 36, was arrested on charges of injuring a child with serious bodily injury by negligence and could face further charges for her daughter’s injuries
It’s understood Rodriguez had left to go to work – leaving her daughter in charge of the baby in her absence.
Baby Jiryiah and the teenage girl were locked in a bedroom with closed doors, away from Rodriguez’s three pit bulls, Sheriff Javier Salazar of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said in a news briefing.
The door to the bedroom had previously been damaged by the dogs and was broken down again before they launched a horrific attack on the baby.
According to Salazar, the teen tried to control the baby but described the fight over the child for several minutes as a “tug of war.”
She then locked herself and the baby in a bathroom, where the dogs forced their way back in, further attacking both the baby and the 13-year-old.
The girl then left the baby with the dogs to grab her phone and call for help, before taking the child to another room and barricading the door with her body.
Johnson’s mother, Erika Castro, said she had not had time to process what happened to her only child.
The 13-year-old girl and Johnson were trapped in a bedroom before the dogs forced their way inside, after the door had previously been damaged by the dogs
Johnson suffered serious throat injuries, which left him unable to breathe on his own, before he died on Monday evening
Rodriguez is being sued for the first time for injury to a child with serious bodily injury due to negligence, and may be sued over her daughter’s injuries
Johnson’s parents have set up a Cash App and wrote on Facebook: ‘I am not one to do this, but the circumstances of my son and I cannot return to work until further notice… We need every prayer and support in this necessary. moment.’
Erika Castro and Julian Johnson (pictured) said their one-year-old was a ‘crazy, loving baby who was fascinated by dinosaurs and Bluey’
She told me Kens5: ‘I wish she had stayed as she said, instead of going to work as she was called.’
Sheriff Salazar described the baby’s condition as “heartbreaking” and said the teen was a “hero” for her efforts against the dogs, which he described as “XL pits.”
He said the baby had been left at Rodriguez’s home before and that the parents knew Rodriguez had dogs, but didn’t think they were a problem.
“What did this lady, the suspect, think would happen in a house full of vicious dogs,” he added.
Castro added, “I thank that girl because… she did her best.”
She said her main focus was on her son’s recovery before his death.
‘I’m shaking, I’ve had panic attacks… He’s fighting. He’s fighting, that’s for sure,” she said.
Castro and her partner Julian Johnson set up a Cash App to help the family pay for the child’s medical expenses. Posting on Facebook, she said, “I’m not one to do this, but my son’s circumstances and I cannot return to work until further notice…We need all the prayers and support at this time.”
She added that her son was a “crazy, loving baby who was fascinated by dinosaurs and Bluey,” Kens5 reported.
Rodriguez was arrested and seen walking the perpetrator, while her dogs were also picked up by authorities.
Salazar added that Rodriguez seemed more concerned about the dogs than the baby. She declined to provide a statement to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Salazar said the baby had previously been left at Rodriguez’s home and that the parents knew Rodriguez had dogs but did not realize they were a problem.
She had been cited for releasing dogs earlier this year when they wouldn’t let a man out of his car, and Salazar said they had responded to calls about the dogs in the past.
Kalb reported that it was unknown where Rodriguez went or how long she was away from home, adding that she was not cooperating with their investigation.
Salazar added that Rodriguez seemed more concerned about the dogs than the baby. She declined to provide a statement to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
The dogs have been handed over to Animal Protection and Child Protection is also investigating. Rodriguez is in the Bexar County Jail on bonds totaling $100,000.