Linzy Earles, the mother of 2-month old boy mauled to death by family dog.
Manslaughter Charges archived
UPDATE 11/04/08: Linzy Earles, who turned 18-years old last month, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in a juvenile court in connection with the mauling death of her baby, 2-month old Zane Alen Earles. The Tulsa police affidavit states that Zane "was left unattended in an infant swing on the opposite side of the house for approximately two hours." In this time, the family's 8-week old lab-mix, "that was left loose in the house ate the two-month-old victim."
Fransein’s order states that Earles was previously adjudicated as a delinquent child. A police affidavit states that Earles “has had a history of drug abuse and she was just taken off probation on June 2” in a drug-related matter.
Second-degree manslaughter involves an accusation of “culpable negligence” — an omission to do something that a reasonably careful person would do or failure to use ordinary care and caution.
“We feel that if not for her culpable negligence, it would have been prevented,” Cain said. - Bill Braun, Tulsa World, November 4, 2008
08/05/08: Neglect Charges Filed
A police affidavit alleges child neglect by the 17-year-old mother whose 2-month old son was mauled to death by a family pet. Tulsa Police allege that Linzy Earles has a history of drug abuse and was neglectful when her baby, Zane Earles, was killed by a dog at the home of his mother and grandparents on July 28. Police responded to a call about a dog mauling at the home. When officers arrived, they found the baby had been left unattended in a baby swing for about two hours.
Investigators have been granted a warrant to test the mother's hair and take a blood sample to determine whether she was under the influence of alcohol or narcotics at the time of her son's death, and to possibly explain why "she was unable to wake up to hear her baby's screams prior to her baby's death,” according to an affidavit.
Police plan to conduct a decibel sound test in the home to find out whether any screams from the infant should have been heard when he was being attacked by the puppy, the affidavit states. Tests will be conducted inside the house to find any possible body fluids left at the scene by the puppy "tracked through the residence after eating the victim."- Johnny Johnson, The Oklahoman, August 6, 2008
07/30/08: Mother Only 17-Years Old
Authorities identified the 2-month old baby as Zane Alen Earles. Police have not released the names of his parents or his grandparents. Tulsa police spokesman Leland Ashley said the dog was taken to an animal shelter after the attack and euthanized. Ashley said the mother found her son dead in an infant swing about 10:30 am Monday. The child's body was taken to the state medical examiner's office, where the cause of death is pending, said Randy Saffell, a spokesman for the office.
The child's father and grandfather left the home, 2904 E 102, at 8 and 8:30 a.m. Monday, Ashley said. Before the grandfather left, he put the infant in a swing in a dining room at the east end of the south Tulsa home. The infant's mother and grandmother were asleep in their bedrooms at the west end of the home.
Ashley declined to release the parents' names, but said the infant's father is 18 and the mother is 17.
Authorities think Earles was bitten numerous times by the black Labrador puppy. - Sheila Stogsdill, The Oklahoman, July 30, 2008
07/28/08: Baby Killed by Family Dog
Tulsa, OK - In a developing story, it appears another family dog has attacked and killed an infant. In this instance, the victim was a 2-month-old baby in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police said the infant was mauled to death by a young Labrador this morning. The child died at the scene. Officer Jason Willingham says the baby's mother and grandmother were home at the time, but nobody was in the room when the attack occurred. He says the child was left in a swing.
Related stories:
07/25/08: 2008 Fatality: 1-Year Old Erie Girl Killed by Family Dog
07/23/08: 2008 Fatality: Mississippi 3-Year Old Boy Killed by Pit Bull
This story is pretty fishy…a 6 week old puppy? Developmentally, I don’t see how a puppy that age could manage the kill bite neccesary to actually kill an infant. Was the child in a bouncy seat? A 6 week old puppy could not even reach a child in a swing.
I don’t know, this story does not make much sense to me…..
This story is bizarre. The lab puppy, for which the death of the infant is being attributed, is literally just a very young pup. I’m very familiar with the needle sharp teeth of playful lab pups, but I’m at a loss to understand how a lab puppy would be allowed to persist sufficient to cause the death of an infant.
Very sad for all involved yet stranger than fiction; I’ll be interested to learn details as they emerge.
I would like to see the dogs papers and have a DNA test done on the bite to make sure they killed the right dog and to determine that it is not a pit x lab.
Strange story.
Pit bull owners use stories like this to promote anti-BSL. They have no shame and no concern for anyone except their dogs.
Exactly. However a 6-week old baby is absolutely defenseless. It’s not so easy to tear apart and kill a 21-year old woman, a 42-year old woman, a 45-year old woman, a 50-year old woman, a 56-year old woman, a 61-year old woman, 62-year old woman, a 65-year old woman, a 71-year old woman…Pit Bull Fatalities from 2007
Um the parent should be charged with child neglect! How can a puppy kill a baby and no one know???
My son had a small portable swing that a puppy could have easily climbed into. Even in a bigger swing, swinging feet and toes could look like toys to a playful puppy who likes to chew. It is possible the puppy bit the child and he bled to death before the parents realized it. What a sad and horrible situation. I do wish neither dog had been pts before the autopsy results were released.
If the lab puppy bit the infant in just the right place an artery—this could have killed the baby. Very sad —that’s one of the points of dog fatalities outside of pit bulls that if the dog bites in a very vulnerable spot it can kill you. This is a lot different with a dog (pit bull)designed with powerful jaws and great tenacity to hold on until dead.
Very fishy story. Why the focus on the lab pup…what about the pug? Did they check the stomachs of both dogs? Either way, total neglect on the mother’s(who is a child) part. Hopefully she will not breed(the mother) again. We sure don’t need any more ignorant humans out there!
Who said this was a lab?
Could this have been a coverup for a pit or pit bull mix? Wonder what the neighbors have to say about what kind of puppy this was.
But it will be interesting to hear the details. If there was massive damage, it wasn’t a 6 week old puppy.