Baby Dismembered By Family Dog; Father Charged

[VXIII]

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. -- A 2-month-old child was killed and dismembered by a dog in his family's South Carolina home Friday as his father slept, authorities said.

Aiden McGrew's mother called 911 when she got home around 11 a.m. and discovered the boy's leg was severed by a retriever mix the family had taken into the home a few weeks earlier, Dorchester County deputies said.

The boy died at the hospital a short time later, Coroner Chris Nisbet said in a news release.

Nisbet said the boy was bitten and dismembered, but he refused to answer additional questions about the infant's injuries. He said he hopes an autopsy scheduled for Saturday will determine if the boy was dead before the dog dismembered him.

"Today is one of the saddest days in my 20+ years of being in the Dorchester County Coroner's Office as I report to all of you one of the worst deaths I have ever handled," Nisbet wrote in his email to the media, which had the subject line "Today's Nightmare."

When the infant was injured, McGrew's mother was taking the family's 7-year-old child to the doctor. The father was sleeping in a bedroom with a 3-year-old child, while the baby was in a baby swing outside that room, Dorchester County Sheriff L.C. Knight said.

Investigators are still trying to sort out how the attack unfolded. The father was being questioned by deputies Friday afternoon, Knight said.

"It's terrible. I don't want to go into details about exactly what happened because the investigation is still ongoing," Knight said. "It was a real bad scene."

The two other children in the home have been taken into protective custody, Knight said. Prosecutors are also following the case and the sheriff expects all the investigators will meet next week to discuss if any charges should be filed.




The sheriff said that the family apparently had two dogs, one they had for some time and the dog that attacked the child which they adopted in recent days. The dog that mauled the child was in a holding pen behind the sheriff's office late Friday.

A woman answering a number listed for the home refused to talk about what happened and told a reporter to not call her back.

No one answered the door at the white mobile home in a wooded area with a cluster of similar homes about 30 miles northwest of Charleston on Friday evening. The home had a small doghouse and a small wooden porch in front.

Neighbor Shirley Pargiello said she did not really know the McGrew family who had to drive past her house on the driveway to their home set back from the road.

"I only saw them getting in and out of their car but they were very loving to their children," she said. She said the family's second dog was a yellow lab and she had never seen the smaller dog that had been taken away by deputies.

"I know they have to be in shock," she said. "I know what it's like to have children and grandchildren."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1442092.html

[Robynne]

Daddy shouldn't have been sleeping. The baby was in a swing outside of the room he was sleeping in? WTF!!! He had his 3 year old in the room with him and not the baby?
My babies have always been in the same room with me. Until they are older, I don't leave them alone in a room unless I can see them the whole time. If I am sleeping, that baby is in the same room as me.
I am sad and angry right now.
See, no one thinks about other dogs hurting or killing their children because Pit Bulls are all over the media.

[VAS1326]

That is sad. I wonder where they adopted the dog. Most rescue organizations and the humane society won't let people with small children adopt certain dogs especially if the dog was aggressive. I guess it doesn't matter because some dogs can appear to be well mannered and still attack and people don't have to tell the adopting agency they have small children. Either way it doesn't change the outcome here.

I wonder when people will get some sense. You just don't leave dogs alone with your small children. Even if you had the dog for years and they never acted agressive and they are not one of the "bad" breeds any dog can be a risk to a small child. They are animals and even the best trained animal still can snap without warning. This was entirely a totally avoidable tragedy. The dogs should have either been locked up away from the baby or the baby should have been in his crib in a room with the door shut. The dog should have not had access to that poor baby.

[VAS1326]

Daddy shouldn't have been sleeping. The baby was in a swing outside of the room he was sleeping in? WTF!!! He had his 3 year old in the room with him and not the baby?
My babies have always been in the same room with me. Until they are older, I don't leave them alone in a room unless I can see them the whole time. If I am sleeping, that baby is in the same room as me.
I am sad and angry right now.
See, no one thinks about other dogs hurting or killing their children because Pit Bulls are all over the media.

Some people do think about other dogs and those people you don't read about on the news because our kids don't get mauled by our pets. My fiance was adament that our German Shepard not be left alone with the little one's when they were babies. We don't even leave him alone with them now as toddlers. Our dog is mild mannered and well trained but we felt better safe than sorry when it came to the babies. We recognize that even though we love him he is still an animal.

I did let my kids sleep in the swing if they fell asleep there but I never went into my room to nap. If the baby was in the swing I either napped on the couch or I was up and around getting housework done. At 2 months old my kids were still in the basinet in my room as well. So I too don't understand how you leave a baby in a room unattended like that.

Like I said before though even if he were sleeping in another room he should have taken precaution with the dogs. Either move the baby to another room (even if not the parents room but the babies room) or lock your pets up. I understand not wanting to move a sleeping babe but take other precautions (stay in the same room, lock up the dog) This was preventable. So many things could have been done to prevent it. That just makes me sad.

[Rydo Larsson]

Holy shit !!! Holy shit !!! Holy shit !!!

[Robynne]

Some people do think about other dogs and those people you don't read about on the news because our kids don't get mauled by our pets. My fiance was adament that our German Shepard not be left alone with the little one's when they were babies. We don't even leave him alone with them now as toddlers. Our dog is mild mannered and well trained but we felt better safe than sorry when it came to the babies. We recognize that even though we love him he is still an animal.

I did let my kids sleep in the swing if they fell asleep there but I never went into my room to nap. If the baby was in the swing I either napped on the couch or I was up and around getting housework done. At 2 months old my kids were still in the basinet in my room as well. So I too don't understand how you leave a baby in a room unattended like that.

Like I said before though even if he were sleeping in another room he should have taken precaution with the dogs. Either move the baby to another room (even if not the parents room but the babies room) or lock your pets up. I understand not wanting to move a sleeping babe but take other precautions (stay in the same room, lock up the dog) This was preventable. So many things could have been done to prevent it. That just makes me sad.

I am merely pointing out that with Pit Bulls being the EVIL BREED in the media, that a lot of people aren't thinking about how other breeds could cause the death of a child.
Maybe the media needs to stop attacking certain breeds, and start educating people as to the dangers of owning any dog.

[Northernspark]

I wouldn't leave a baby in a swing while I slept either, new dog may have thought it was a new toy/treat, but wouldn't have left them like that even without dogs in the house, if you need sleep put them in a safe cot/travel pen. No such things as bad dogs or kids, just owners and parents, sad case.

[Silvahalo]

Because people who have pets and treat them as part of the family forget they ARE still animals. You cannot predict what an animal might do to a baby, cannot, don't care how many times people say oh, but my dog is the sweetest, most loving, smartest, etc.....OK sure, but your loving dog is still an animal with animal instincts.
Could have been how the baby stirred, cried or being that the animal was new to the home felt the baby was getting too much attention, who knows....stupid, stupid, stupid to leave a baby unattended around an animal. People freak when a human loses their shit on a child, but an animal, oh, no how the fuck? it's an animal. not a babysitter. There are human's I wouldn't leave in the care of my baby much less leaving my animal alone with them.

Rest in peace baby Aiden McGrew. (omg Aiden was so precious).


moms myspace.

[sugarfree irony]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1442092.html
The boy died at the hospital a short time later, Coroner Chris Nisbet said in a news release.

Nisbet said the boy was bitten and dismembered, but he refused to answer additional questions about the infant's injuries. He said he hopes an autopsy scheduled for Saturday will determine if the boy was dead before the dog dismembered him .

Maybe I've had one too many cheap chocolate bunnies but this makes no sense . If the child died at the hospital after the attack how can autopsy show he was possibly dead before the dog dismembered him ? How many lives does this kid have ?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Knight said the family adopted Lucky a few weeks ago, but their other dog has been with them for years. He said the McGrews “dog sat” for Lucky previously and decided to keep the dog when its previous owners wanted to give it up.

Knight said he knows of no prior complaints made about the dog, or any reports of aggressive behavior.

Asked why the boy's father apparently did not hear any commotion or awaken when the mauling took place in a nearby room, Knight said only that the matter is under investigation. The door to the room where the baby was apparently was open, he said.

Chantel McGrew told officials that she returned home just after 11 a.m. and found the infant on the floor by the swing with his legs torn off and his abdomen ruptured and bleeding.

The mother told 911 dispatchers that the father was asleep when she got home.

The boy was rushed by ambulance to Summerville Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities said a helicopter was dispatched from Medical University Hospital, but plans to fly Aiden there were changed because of the boy's grave condition.

The Post and Courier's attempt to ask the child's mother about the incident were met by her landlord's demand to leave the property.

Shirley Pargiello, 70, a next-door neighbor, said the McGrews moved to the home just after Aiden was born. “I see them all the time coming home from the grocery store with the kids,” Pargiello said.

“They seem like a very nice couple and a nice family,” she said.

A Facebook page for Chantel McGrew depicts her and husband in loving embraces, and a photo of mom and Aiden is inscribed: “Best Valentines Day Present.”

Speaking about Lucky, Pargiello said she typically does not like dogs. “But it's a beautiful dog. I went over to say hi one day, and he came right up to me and stopped. I rubbed his head, then he left. It's a very gentle dog.”

Another next-door neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the family's dogs “were never aggressive.”
[...]

Knight said that in addition to the sheriff's and coroner's offices, DSS, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control and the 1st Circuit Solicitor's Office are investigating the tragedy.

The State Law Enforcement Division's Child Fatality Review Team has been notified of the death and will decide whether to join the investigation, Knight said.

DSS workers were seen escorting the two older McGrew children from the home and into a vehicle Friday as deputies finished their work at the scene.

An animal control officer caged the family's two dogs and a few chickens that the family also kept in this remote area east of Cottageville. Their fate wasn't immediately known.

Knight said the dogs did not act aggressively when they were corralled and transported. He expressed his conviction that large dogs and small children do not mix.

The McGrews' dogs were being held in the afternoon in pens at the county Law Enforcement Center near Summerville. When the pen was approached by reporters and photographers, Lucky wagged his tail and barked as if beckoning the visitors to come play.

http://www.postandcourier.com/articl...0429826&slId=1

[VXIII]

OMG, I wonder how long poor little Aiden laid there until someone came to help him.

[Connie]

My first thought is the baby made NO noise when this dog attacked him? Was the door closed? Was there no baby monitor in the room with the baby? Looking at his photo above he wasn't newborn. His cries would have been loud enough to hear in the next room of a TRAILER. Last time I was in a one the walls were paper thin!

And they took the other children into CPS? That tells us they believe something may have been amiss. If they thought it was just a tragedy with an unknown dog they would have JUST removed the dog.

[Silvahalo]

Asked why the boy's father apparently did not hear any commotion or awaken when the mauling took place in a nearby room, Knight said only that the matter is under investigation. The door to the room where the baby was apparently was open, he said.

Yeah, I'm wondering if he heard baby at all, really, how could you not unless baby was unable to, bite to the neck (omg). maybe muffled cries. I hope more comes telling just how this happened.
And DSS is involved makes it that more curious.

[VAS1326]

I am merely pointing out that with Pit Bulls being the EVIL BREED in the media, that a lot of people aren't thinking about how other breeds could cause the death of a child.
Maybe the media needs to stop attacking certain breeds, and start educating people as to the dangers of owning any dog.

I agree and it should be noted not all pit bulls attack. My friend had one that was a sweet gentle dog and never harmed her kids. She never left them unattended but you know what I mean. Not all pit bulls are overly agressive and the one's that are most likely were trained to be so. I mean something as simply as neaturing them can calm them down a lot (this is true with most dogs) but that would mean the owner has to care enough to do so.

[colliefreak]

A baby in a swing around a dog is a terrible idea. They can simulate prey that way, much like a squirrel up in a tree. The baby could have cried (if the dog was not conditioned to the sound of babies crying, that too could trigger prey drive). And if the dog is un- or under-exercised, that could contribute as well. Very sad tragedy.

[DamagedGoods]

Chantel McGrew told officials that she returned home just after 11 a.m. and found the infant on the floor by the swing with his legs torn off and his abdomen ruptured and bleeding.

Jesus fucking christ.

Why aren't they naming the father, when they've named the mother? Or have I just missed that?

I absolutely can NOT believe ANYONE could sleep through the sounds a baby must make while being dismembered. Unless the dog killed the baby instantly with its first strike, which I suppose is possible, but I can't see it being likely.

I also absolutely can NOT believe anyone would be so stupid as to leave a 2 month old within reach of any animal, let alone a large dog, without any kind of supervision whatsoever.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

While I don't understand how this happened, I find it "possible"... not likely but not impossible that the dad heard nothing. A swift attack may have left the child unable to cry loudly. So far, it doesn't seem the 3 year old woke either.

What speaks loudest to me is that they took away the other kids. If this was just a horrid accident, removing the dog should have been enough to make the kids safe. What did authorities see that caused continuation of concern?

[VAS1326]

While I don't understand how this happened, I find it "possible"... not likely but not impossible that the dad heard nothing. A swift attack may have left the child unable to cry loudly. So far, it doesn't seem the 3 year old woke either.

What speaks loudest to me is that they took away the other kids. If this was just a horrid accident, removing the dog should have been enough to make the kids safe. What did authorities see that caused continuation of concern?

I'm thinking it could be due to neglect since the father failed to keep the baby safe. There probably is more to the story than that but it could be part of it.

[Whisper]

Police believe this dog, a golden retriever-Labrador mix named Lucky, mauled and killed a 2-month-old child baby while the child’s father was asleep in another room.

A supposedly "gentle" pooch named Lucky is suspected of killing a 2-month-old baby and tearing the child's body apart in South Carolina.

Aiden McGrew, who was born on Valentine's Day and was the youngest of three children, was found dead in his family's mobile home Friday in Ridgeville by his mother, according to The Post and Courier newspaper.

The baby was in a swing when Lucky, a golden retriever-Labrador mix, bit the child several times and tore off his legs, authorities said.

The child's father, Quintin, was in the home at the time, police said. He was in another room asleep with the family's 3-year-old and their other dog.

The baby was discovered when his mother, Chantel, came home after taking their seven-year-old to a doctor's appointment, The Post and Courier reported.

"This... is about as bad as it can get for us as police officers," Dorchester County Sheriff L.C. Knight said at a press conference Friday. "I've been doing this a lot of years and haven't seen one like this."

It is unclear why the father did not wake up when the baby was attacked, police said. The mother told 911 at the time that her husband was still asleep when she got home.

Shirley Pargiello, 70, a next-door neighbor to the McGrew family, told The Post and Courier that Lucky was "a very gentle dog."

"It's a beautiful dog," she said. "I went over to say hi one day, and he came right up to me and stopped. I rubbed his head, then he left.”
[...]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz1spD9EhMg

[HeatherHabilatory]

I call bullshit. That's not a pitbull. We ALL know ONLY pitbulls kill people!!!!! </sarcasm>

[62julietandvoid]

UGH dog looks evil and I want to pound the red nose off of it. WTF probably thought swing/dangle = toy. Fuck fuck fuck you.

[newstarshipsmell]

http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/s...Not-a-Pit-Bull

[DamagedGoods]

I should note, that I am somewhat engaging in hyperbole when I say I absolutely can not believe these things happened. It does however require a MASSIVE suspension of disbelief on my part to believe it.

[Marv]

While I don't understand how this happened, I find it "possible"... not likely but not impossible that the dad heard nothing. A swift attack may have left the child unable to cry loudly. So far, it doesn't seem the 3 year old woke either.

What speaks loudest to me is that they took away the other kids. If this was just a horrid accident, removing the dog should have been enough to make the kids safe. What did authorities see that caused continuation of concern?

I wonder if dad was in a drunk-or-drug-sleep, and that's why he slept through it and why they have taken the other kids.

I can't get the mental image of that baby in his swing, with the dog pulling on his legs like a tug-toy, until the legs tore off and the baby slid out of the swing onto the floor. And then the dog continuing to 'play' with him, tearing his abdomen up. I can't imagine the horror the mother felt, walking in and seeing that.

The baby swing should have been in the bedroom with the dad and 3yo, and the door firmly shut. Then, even if dad were so soundly asleep that he didn't wake up when the baby cried or screamed, the worst outcome would have been an hyterical baby, or one who had cried himself to sleep.

[Obsolete]

I don't think the issue is letting the baby sleep in a different room than the parents. The issue is leaving the baby in another room to sleep with a dog.

Really, what's the difference in letting your baby sleep in a swing while you nap in another room or in the nursery while you nap in another room?

[penelopejo]

I don't think the issue is letting the baby sleep in a different room than the parents. The issue is leaving the baby in another room to sleep with a dog.

Really, what's the difference in letting your baby sleep in a swing while you nap in another room or in the nursery while you nap in another room?

I agree. I don't understand how people with inside dogs don't put their dog(s) in a kennel when the family is napping or asleep. It may sound cruel, but every night or when we nap, I kennel my dog. I love her to pieces, but she's big and she's a dog and they like to chew on stuff. I will not have it on my head that my child is mauled to death while I am napping in the other room.

A baby in a swing going back and forth (or side to side) is nothing but a temptation for the dog, in my opinion.

[Bohring]

I have constructed a scenario of the baby ceaselessly crying, dad putting the baby in the swing to comfort, baby screaming for mommy or cause of colic or hungry or whatever, and dad thinking this horrid screaming was just same ol' same ol'. Either that or dude was passed out, for whatever reason.

Or a really horrible awful fucking story is going to come to light.

Would a dog not growl and bark and yip and make all sorts of hideous noises while tearing apart a living baby that is most likely screaming? Our dogs bitch and bark and snarl at each other, and that's just playtime.

[Cassy]

I don't think the issue is letting the baby sleep in a different room than the parents. The issue is leaving the baby in another room to sleep with a dog.

Really, what's the difference in letting your baby sleep in a swing while you nap in another room or in the nursery while you nap in another room?

A swing can be knocked over. It does not protect the child at all. A child could become entangled in the restraints. Who the hell WOULD leave a child unattended in a baby swing. Much less with the family dog.


http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/...d_in_baby.html

Swings have been recalled over the years.

[Nell]

A swing can be knocked over. It does not protect the child at all. A child could become entangled in the restraints. Who the hell WOULD leave a child unattended in a baby swing. Much less with the family dog.


http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/...d_in_baby.html

Swings have been recalled over the years.

Lots and lots and lots of exhausted mothers, that's who.

Cribs have been recalled over the years. Including mine with my last child. It was recalled for collapsing and killing babies.

http://www.safekids.org/our-work/rec...FYgFRQodAARaaA

[Silvahalo]

A swing can be knocked over. It does not protect the child at all. A child could become entangled in the restraints. Who the hell WOULD leave a child unattended in a baby swing. Much less with the family dog.


http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/...d_in_baby.html

Swings have been recalled over the years.

My first born wouldn't hardly sleep without being in a rocker the first several months of life. I let him sleep in a swing all the time but wouldn't do so with a dog in the home unattended. Desperate mom's do this especially when you got multiple kids. Most are designed well nowadays with safety in mind and so as long as you follow the guidelines. but yeah, of course, like you said can be knocked down so NO running dogs or kids for that matter, got keep a close eye.

...and just about every child device has been recalled for one thing or another.