MONICA RENEE LAMINACK - 21 months - /Accused: Summer Laminack, mother - Bryon County, GA

Toddler killed in Bryan County dog attack
Posted: March 27, 2013 - 8:21pm By Savannah Morning News

Bryan County police are investigating Wednesday night after a toddler was killed in a dog attack.

About 6:30 p.m., Bryan County dispatchers received a call that an 21-month-old girl had been attacked and killed by seven dogs, Sheriff Clyde R. Smith said.

Police say the girl’s grandmother was sleeping when she was awakened by a commotion in the yard. She looked out her window and saw the attack, but was not in time to save the child.

The dogs, which belonged to the child’s family, were pit bulls and pit bull mixes. They have been euthanized by Bryan County Animal Control.

Authorities have not released the child’s identity

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2013-03-27/toddler-attacked-dogs-killed

Another little angel murdered by a Pit Bull. That's over seven or more just since January. Don't have ANY dogs around your little children. All dogs can kill but Pit Bulls and Rotweillers are the worse. This grand mother should have known not to have those dogs with a young child. Keep your kids safe. William

Dogs attack and kill Bryan County toddler
Posted: March 28, 2013 - 1:05am By Jamie Parker

Tragedy struck in north Bryan County on Wednesday afternoon when a toddler was mauled and killed by seven dogs, all pit bulls or pit bull mixes, in her backyard off Elm Road.

According to Bryan County Deputy Sheriff James Beatty, a 6:24 p.m. call to 911 reported the girl’s grandmother woke up, looked out the back window, saw it happening, and along with others rushed outside to pull the dogs off the child, but it was too late.

“When we got here and spoke to EMS, they told us that when they got here, she was already cold. There was nothing they could do,” Beatty said.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said the coldness of the body indicated to him the child had to have been dead for a while.

How the girl, who would have been 2 years old in June, got into the backyard with the dogs was not immediately known.

According to Beatty, the girl’s 12-year-old brother may have taken her out to play and either forgot she was there, thought she had returned to the front yard or she may have gone out the doggy door.

“All the dogs had access to the house, nine dogs in all,” Smith said. “She habitually played with dogs, all of them. But they drug her all over the yard. Something turned them on her. We don’t know what.”

The seven dogs involved in the attack were put down at the scene by Bryan County Animal Control. Two other dogs living at the residence and not involved in the attack were spared. They were not pit bulls.

Animal Control Officer Thomas Sanders said that while he had been called to the Elm Road neighborhood about dogs running in the street before, he had never responded to a call at the address of the attack.

Smith, who declined to identify the girl, said her body had been sent to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy.

“The investigation is continuing,” Smith said.
http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-03-28/dogs-attack-and-kill-bryan-county-toddler

These kind of attacks are NOT accidents. They are totally preventable. William

Sheriff: Adults home when dogs killed Ga. toddler
March 28, 2013 19:28 GMT By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press

ELLABELL, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia sheriff says seven dogs fatally mauled a toddler in her backyard as the attack went unnoticed by the girl's mother and other adults inside the house until it was too late.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said Thursday that Monica Renee Laminack, who would have turned 2 years old in June, slipped out a dog door and into the fenced-in yard where she was attacked. He says by the time the child's grandmother heard the dogs barking and looked outside, the girl was dead and her clothes were in shreds all over the yard.

Authorities say the dogs were pit bulls and pit bull mixes. Animal Control officers euthanized them after the attack Wednesday night.

The sheriff says authorities are considering criminal charges, but none has been filed.

http://www.okcfox.com

CBS News/ March 28, 2013, 5:10 PM
Family in home while Ga. toddler mauled to death by seven dogs in yard

ELLABELL, Ga. A toddler who slipped outside through a doggie door was mauled to death by her family's seven dogs in the backyard while the attack went unnoticed by the child's mother and other relatives inside their home, a southeast Georgia sheriff said Thursday.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said the child's grandmother told investigators she was lying in bed when she heard the pit bulls and pit bull mixes barking, and she looked outside her window to see them dragging the girl. Smith said she began yelling, "They're killing Monica!"

It was too late. Monica Renee Laminack, who would have turned 2 on June 1, was dead by the time an ambulance arrived Wednesday evening. Animal control officers used drugs to euthanize the dogs at the home on a rural road in tiny Ellabell, about 30 miles west of Savannah. Deputies found the girl's shoes, diaper and shredded clothing scattered across the fenced-in yard, Smith said.

"They had dragged the child all over the yard. ... They tore her clothes all up," Smith said.
The toddler lived in a modest, two-story house tucked away from the main road. The sheriff said four generations of the same family shared the home, including the child's 18-year-old mother, grandparents and two uncles who are still young boys.

The girl's grandmother, Michelle McIntyre, sat weeping on the tailgate of a pickup outside the home Thursday. Summer Laminack, the child's mother, sat next to her staring silently at the ground.

"She's in shock," Barbara Brauda, a friend who was visiting the family, told The Associated Press before a man approached and asked a reporter to leave the property. "She hasn't been doing a whole lot of crying because she's still numb."

The sheriff said at least three adult relatives were inside the home when the dogs killed the girl outside. No criminal charges had been filed Thursday. Smith said he expects charges will be brought after he's had a chance to discuss the case with the district attorney and the girl's family has been given time to hold her funeral.

"I can see child neglect at the very minimum," Smith said.

Relatives told investigators the dogs that mauled the child were essentially family pets — a mother dog and six offspring from a litter she had about 16 months ago, the sheriff said.
The dogs had their own doggie doors that let them come in and out of the house as they pleased. The family told deputies the dogs had never attacked a person, though one of them might have killed a cat, Smith said. He said relatives insisted the toddler would play with the dogs and even "use them as pillows while watching TV."

Smith said the dogs looked healthy and well-fed, and investigators found no signs they were being used as fighting dogs by their owners.

"They said they have never been aggressive to other people," he said. "Why they got started I have no idea."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57576800/family-in-home-while-ga-toddler-mauled-to-death-by-seven-dogs-in-yard/

"were essentially family pets", "dogs had never attacked a person", "never been aggressive to other people" How many times have I heard those words. And each time a little child pays with their life. Pit Bulls and Rotweillers are child killers. This makes at least 7 children killed since January 1. How many children have to die before these breeds are banned? Other countries ban them as dangerous animals we can for the safety of our children. William

Autopsy released in Bryan County dog attack; charges likely
Posted: April 4, 2013 - 2:01pm
By Corey Dickstein

Autopsy results in the death of a 21-month-old north Bryan County toddler mauled at her home by seven dogs showed injuries consistent with a dog attack, Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said Thursday.

Although charges are likely against at least one adult living in the Elm Road home where Monica Renee Laminack was killed by the family’s seven pit bulls and pit bull mixes March 27, nothing has been decided, Smith said.

“It will probably be next week before we do (file) charges,” Smith said. “We want to give (the family) some time to breathe right now.”

The sheriff said he will meet next week with the district attorney to make a final decision. He indicated Monica’s 18-year-old mother, Summer Laminack, probably will be charged, at least, with child neglect in the case where the toddler apparently went through a doggy door outside to where the unattended dogs were located.

“That’s who would be responsible,” Smith said.

The child’s grandmother was upstairs laying down when she heard the dogs fighting and barking, the sheriff said.

“She looked out her window and yelled, ‘They are killing Monica.’ They, the family, all went downstairs; they had four generations living there,” Smith said. “The two boys pulled the dogs off the baby. The baby’s mother, Summer, picked Monica up and said, ‘She’s dead.’”

No ordinances in Bryan County prohibit keeping pit bulls or regulate the number of dogs a private citizen may have.

The family, Smith said, told investigators Monica, who would have turned 2 in June, was used to being around the dogs, and Bryan County Animal Control had never had a call at the residence concerning the pets.

All seven pit bulls and pit bull mixes involved in the attack were euthanized at the scene. The family’s other two dogs — not pit bulls — were not involved in the attack.

When formal charges are filed, Smith said, he will notify the public.

http://savannahnow.com/bryan-county-now/2013-04-04/autopsy-released-bryan-county-dog-attack-charges-likely

I hope there's charges in this case. No reason to have nine dogs around a little baby. William

Mother of Bryan County dog attack victim arrested
Posted: April 16, 2013 - 3:31pm
By Jamie Parker

The mother of a child killed in north Bryan County last month by her family’s dogs was arrested Tuesday morning.

Summer Laminack, age 18, was charged with cruelty to children and 2nd degree criminal negligence Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said. She was later released on $5,000 bond.

Laminack’s daughter, 21-month-old Monica Renee Laminack, was killed at her Elm Road home March 27 after being attacked by her family’s seven pit bulls and Pit bull mixes.

Several other people were in the home at the time of the girl’s death.

According to Smith the child’s grandmother said she was upstairs laying down when she heard the dogs fighting and barking.

“She looked out her window and yelled, ‘They are killing Monica.’ They, the family, all went downstairs; they had four generations living there. The two boys pulled the dogs off the baby. The baby’s mother Summer picked Monica up and said, ‘She’s dead.’”

Monica, who would have turned 2 in June, apparently got outside by crawling through a doggy door, was unattended with the dogs. According to her family, the girl was accustomed to being around dogs. Nine dogs in total, the seven pits plus two more that were not pits, that had access to the house she lived in.

“But they drug her all over the yard. Something turned them on her. We don’t know what,” Smnith said.

Laminack, who is represented by attorney Tom Edenfield, did not speak during the arrest and bonding procedure Smith said.

“She talked with her lawyer but other than that she didn’t utter a word,” he said.

Smith added that he expects no further proceedings in the case before the grand jury meets in November unless Lamianck decides to submit a plea to the court.

http://savannahnow.com/bryan-county-now/2013-04-16/mother-bryan-county-dog-attack-victim-arrested

Attorney: Mauling of toddler a 'tragic accident'
RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The attorney for a teenage mother charged with child cruelty in the death of her 21-month-old daughter says it was a "tragic accident" that the toddler was fatally mauled by her family's seven dogs in southeast Georgia.

Defense attorney Tom Edenfield said in an interview Wednesday the child's mother, 18-year-old Summer Laminack of Ellabell, loved her daughter and is still suffering from the trauma of her death March 27.

Bryan County authorities say young Monica Renee Laminack slipped outside through a doggie door and was killed by the seven pit bulls and pit bull mixes her family kept in the back yard. Edenfield says the girl's mother was in her bedroom studying.

She was charged Tuesday with second-degree child cruelty, a felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison.

http://ap.savannahnow.com/pstories/state/ga/20130417/1125037511.shtml

An accident pertains to something totally out of your control. The mother had Pit Bulls, dogs known to be child killers, her control. The mother allowed her child to be around dogs, her control. The mother allowed her child to be unattended, her control. The mother allowed her child to leave the house unattended, her control. You don't have a doggie door with a toddler, you just don't. All of these were her control, not an accident. You can't call this an accident. Sorry about the rant. William

This woman needs to be in prison.