MEMPHIS – Two young children have died and their mother was seriously injured after two family dogs attacked a baby and toddler outside their home in West Tennessee.
The vandalism occurred outside the family’s Memphis home on Thursday, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Kirstie Bennard, 30, suffered critical injuries when she tried to intervene in the attack on her 5-month-old boy, Hollace Dean, and 2-year-old girl, Lilly Jane, the family told USA TODAY on Saturday.
“She put her body on top of Lilly’s to try and protect her after the attack started,” said Bennard’s uncle by marriage, Jeff Gibson. “Both (dobs) started attacking her while she was on Lilly.”
The two children were pronounced dead when officials arrived at the home, the sheriff’s office reported.
Their mother was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, officials said.
Bennard has since been released from hospital, Gibson said Saturday.
It was not immediately known what caused the mauling.
John Morris, the public information officer for the sheriff’s office, told USA TODAY on Saturday that the case remained an ongoing and active investigation. He did not say whether the case was pending.
The mauling, Gibson said, lasted about 10 minutes.
Gibson wrote on Facebook that Bennard had “countless stings and bite marks all over her body, including her face.” He also posted a link to a fundraiser set up Friday by family friends to help the family.
The dogs — two pit bulls belonging to the family — were euthanized Thursday at Memphis Animal Services.
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The family owned the pets, Cheech and Mia, for more than eight years without a violent incident, Kelsey Canfield, the mother’s best friend, told Fox News.
“I can promise you that those kids were her world, and if there was the slightest suspicion of danger, she would never have had those dogs around her kids,” Canfield told the outlet. “Those kids were everything to them, and they just have a really long journey ahead of them.”
Contributing: Lucas Finton with The Commercial Appeal.
Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2 children killed, mother hospitalized after mauling dogs in Tennessee
