Family pit bull kills Rockdale newborn

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Rockdale County deputies say the bite that killed a 5-day-old girl last Thursday could have been inflicted by any dog.

"It was not an aggressive or mean bite," Rockdale sheriff's Sgt. Jodi Shupe told the AJC. "It would've been easy to call this just another pit bull attack but the investigation concluded that wasn't the case."

The baby, born a month premature, died Tuesday at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, where four other children were being treated for pit bull bites, Shupe said.

"Basically the baby's skull was crushed," she said. "His head was so small," about the size of a softball, "and still had a lot of soft spots." The dog, apparently responding to the baby's cries, climbed on top of the bassinet and put the infant's head in his mouth.

Deputies concluded there was no negligence by the mother, who came into the room just after the bite occurred. "Based on the whole totality of circumstances, charging the family made no sense," Shupe said.The sheriff's office is not identifying the victim or her parents.