Pit Bull Owner's Sister Blames Mauling on 6-Year Old Tyah Norris

Pit bull attack victim, Tyah Norris.

Photos Released
UPDATE 01/03/11: The family of Tyah Norris has released recovery photos of Tyah four months after she was mauled by three pit bulls. Tyah endured hundreds of stitches, multiple surgeries and spent nearly three weeks at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital following the incident. Her visits to the hospital since have shifted from weekly to monthly. Like most pit bull scalp attack victims, Tyah underwent skin grafting and will undergo tissue expansion procedures.

The Mlive.com article adds that Tyah has not returned to her first-grade class since the August attack. Instead, she visits the school twice a week and works alone with a teacher. According to her mother, Joyce Norris, it is unlikely that she will return to class this year, but Norris hopes that the current arrangement will prepare her to begin second grade next year. Norris is concerned, however, that students will tease Tyah when she returns due to her facial scars.

The owners of the pit bulls, Brian Keith Nace and Jasmine Jammina Bailey, continue to face criminal charges stemming from the attack. A hearing is scheduled for Friday before Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain. After the first hearing, Nace's sister, Rebecca Russell, blamed the mauling on Tyah for "not listening." This blame the victim video of Russell has since been removed from the originating Mlive.com article. Luckily, we transcribed the text.

08/28/10: Pit Bull Owners Face Felony Charges
Blackman Township, MI - On August 24, a 6-year old girl was attacked by three pit bulls while visiting a home on Mantle Avenue. According to her uncle, Tyah Norris required numerous staples and about 500 stitches in her face and head. During extensive surgery, doctors at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor were able to repair her eye muscles and tear ducts, and used an artificial material to patch her scalp. The pit bulls ripped out part of her skull.

Three days later, the owners of the pit bulls, Brian Keith Nace and Jasmine Jammina Bailey, were charged with a felony for keeping a dangerous animal that caused serious injury. The crime has a maximum penalty of four years in prison, 500 hours of community service and a $2,000 fine. Nace's sister, Rebecca Russell, was present during the court hearing and tried to defend her brother afterward by placing the blame upon the victim -- a 6-year old child.

Rebecca Russell's Audio
"Brian wasn't even there. Brian was at work. I was upstairs.
My 10-year old daughter told her not to go in the backyard, and she went back there anyway.
Abbie said, "Wait for me to tie up the dogs." She didn't. She went back there anyway...Yes, Tyah went back there after my daughter Abbie asked her not to, okay? Tyah didn't listen.1
--snip--
All these people that want to retaliate, make threats and talk all these things about Brian that don't know Brian, need to shut up because they weren't there. They don't know what happened. Everybody just needs to...
Brian is hurt more than anybody over this. He had to give over his own three dogs. You know what I am saying? Not only did he lose his three dogs, and yeah they were like his kids..."2

Russell, it seems, does not understand that the American public -- specifically residents of Michigan3 -- are growing less and less tolerant of these brutal, life-altering attacks. The climate for a pit bull owner after a serious mauling is becoming rage, and a demand for punishment, not sympathy because Brian Nace had to put his dangerous pit bulls down. Furthermore, as reported on Craven Desires, Nace's rap sheet includes: burlgary, larceny and home invasion.4

Tyah Norris Benefit Fund
Donations can be made at any Citizens Bank location to the "Tyah Norris Benefit Fund." Tyah and her family need your help.

1Russell's statement that Tyrah "did not listen" (had she listened this would not have happened) reminds us of what Dominic Solesky's father said, "This is akin to removing crossing guards from crosswalks near schools because the children have been informed how to cross a street and the associated dangers."
2Russell is upset that people are accusing Nace of "training his dogs to attack." Such accusations are courtesy of the pit bull community who must explain this horrific attack by blaming environmental factors instead of admitting to the breed's genetic traits.
3The high profile pit bull mauling of Duane VanLanHam has not left the minds of Michigan residents.
4Home Invasion in the 2nd degree in the State of Michigan is a felony offense punishable by imprisonment for not more than 15 years or a fine of not more than $3,000.00, or both.

Photo: Mlive.com and Jackson Citizen Patriot

13 thoughts on “Pit Bull Owner's Sister Blames Mauling on 6-Year Old Tyah Norris”

a home invasion conviction tells me all i need to know about brian. shut up rebecca.

BRIAN is hurt more than anybody else? Yeah, I'm sure having to put down three dogs hurts WAY more than 500 staples, repaired eye and tear duct muscles, missing scalp, and missing skull pieces. Tell you what, lady, let's do that damage to you, and then you tell us which you think hurts worse? Typical pit nutter trash and their typical trash relatives. They only care about themselves.

Brian is hurt more than anybody over this? No, the little girl and her family are hurt more than anybody, you narcissistic piece of trash.

Like cravendesires said, we know brian and we know what happened, and we know rebecca.

She's saying she and her family can do whatever they want and cause trauma and horror and no one has the right to question that.

And here's rebecca's "thought" process:

1. rebecca knew the pit bulls were dangerous – that's why she had her daughter convey the message that they should be tied up first.

2. rebecca decided to take care of some other business before assuring the children's safety.

3. rebecca felt it would be safe for the children to play in a yard with 3 tied-up-because-they're-dangerous pit bulls.

WTF

The crossing guard analogy is terrific.

I feel SO SORRY for Nace and Russell who now find themselves in the center of a national debate about pit bulls and that the pit bull community has thrown them under the bus ("Nace was fighting those dogs and training those dogs to KILL!" The pit nutters thunder) Under the hot spotlight, Russell attempts to shift the argument to "caring about the child" and NOT caring about the dogs, as the beloved pit bulls are now dead. But, but…They can go out and buy new ones tomorrow. Tyah on the other hand, will have NO NORMAL life for the REST OF HER LIFE.

It is a sad fact that this sister of the pit bull owners is repeating some of the same things that we hear from the pit bull advocacy lobby, and even some of the organizations that have undertaken pit bull promotion.

Supposedly educated, middle class adult people have said and done all of the things that this Rebecca Russell is saying and doing after a pit bull attack- blaming the victim, trying to get sympathy for the dogs and claim that the dogs are equivalent in importance to a human, trying to claim lack of parental supervision, and the rest.

Even worse, some of these pit bull promoting organizations have held candlelight vigils for these fighting dogs, trying to stop euthanasia of the dogs so that the dogs can be given away or returned to the owner to attack again.

Ms. Russell is simply repeating what she has heard from the Pit Bull advocacy lobby.

Tyah's uncle once owned a pit bull that became aggressive. He got rid of it. Another reformed ownerhttp://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/08/officials_no_easy_fix_for_pit.html

What a tragic story of another childs life drastically and forever changed by Pit Bulls.
And the comments made by the female are enough to show people why we call them nutters. I mean seriously, blaming a 6 year old for being mauled by your dogs? As bad as it hurt me to euthanize my Pit Bull, this is why I did. I would not be able to live with myself if something like this happened, and mine had too many triggers that it was bound to happen one day. Speaking from experience, the dogs just are not right in the head, and I will never look at a Pit Bull owner the same now. They, like the breed, just have some screws loose or something.

The state of Michigan needs to set a precedent and send a message to all dog owners by frying these two losers.

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/09/woman_accused_of_keeping_a_pit.html

the judge hammered jasmine bailey today, sentencing her to 333 days for violating her probation. in 2008 she was found guilty of stealing a purse. all this loser had to do was stay clean for 3 years during her probation to have the felony expunged from her record. this was the last straw for the judge who has been cutting her slack for multiple probation violations: drinking alcohol, failing to enroll in vocational training, missing substance abuse assessments, submitting adulterated UAs, and failing to complete community service. this 333 day sentence appears to be separate from the actual charges stemming from the vicious attack on tyah norris. let's hope she doesn't see the light of day for many years.

9-15-10: One of the owners of the three pit bulls that viciously attacked a six-year-old Jackson girl will spend the next 11 months in jail. Because she is now facing a new felony charge, a Jackson County judge sentenced 19-year-old Jasmine Bailey to 333 days in jail for violating her probation on a previous case.
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http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/102943354.html

I just found another account of the attack. It was described by AC as the three pits playing tug of war with the little girl.

When I read how the Tyah kept repeating over and over – I'm doing fine, I'm doing fine…at the scene, I just cried.

And she remembers everything.

The news stories have been saying that she required 500 stitches and staples – as horrific as that is, it does not adequately describe the extent of her injuries and the repairs required.

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/102475839.html?storySection=story

"It was a horrible, horrible sight. I can't stand it every time I think about it," Powers said last week. The resulting wounds were atrocious by all accounts. Seasoned police and prosecutors seemed struck, even shaken, by the extent of the injuries that are now slowly healing.
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http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/09/young_pit_bull_victim_tyah_nor.html

Jury finds Jasmine Bailey guilty of felony in pit bull attack that injured 6-year-old Tyah Norris — Sentencing is Sept 22

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