Braelynn Coulter, 3-years old, was killed by one of her family's pit bulls.
Under Media Scrutiny archived
UPDATE 02/28/14: The media continues to focus on the parents of a 3-year old girl who was killed by a family pit bull on Monday. The dog had a history of aggression, including breaking through a fence to attack a neighbor's dog in the past few months, the family had adhered at least two Beware of Dog signs to their home and today we learned that the attacking family pit bull, one of two pit bulls in the family's home, had bitten someone other than Braelynn on the day she died.
Officials said the dog bit somebody other than Braelynn on Monday, the day the child died. They did not identify that person. - News & Record
We presume this other person is not the child's mother, who was bitten while trying to save her child. The mother was identified previously as being injured in the attack. Last night, Nancy Grace, featured Braelynn's story, Grace asked: "Neighbors claim they have been afraid of the family dog, a pit bull, for some time, even keeping their children and pets inside. Recently a neighbor claimed the dog attacked their dog viciously. Are charges being considered, against mommy and daddy?"
*** Clarification Update ***
We just received verification from Joe Gamm, the author of the aforementioned News & Record article (Toddler’s family pastor speaks with reporters about the dog-mauling case) referring to an "unidentified" person bitten by the attacking dog on the day Braelynn suffered fatal injuries from the family pit bull. Gamm was referring to the child's mother, not an additional person. This is does not relieve the parents from media or law enforcement scrutiny and possible criminal charges.
Notably, last November, 25-year old Katherine Atkins of Kernersville -- just 14 miles away from High Point -- was killed by her boyfriend's two pit bulls. The couple had raised the dogs since they were puppies. The horrific death of Katherine, a beautiful young woman, captured significant coverage throughout the area. According to Braelynn's obituary, she was born in Forsyth County (location of Kernersville) and the majority of her surviving family members are from Kernersville.1
02/25/14: Mauling Victim Identified
The family identified the 3-year old girl killed by a family pit bull on Monday as Braelynn Rayne Coulter of High Point and issued a short statement about her death. A GoFundMe page was set up to help her family pay for funeral costs and expenses. More photos of Braelynn can be seen on that page. Braelynn Coulter, 3, is the 390th American citizen mauled to death by a pit bull since the archival project, Fatal Pit Bull Attacks - The Archival Record, began recording these deaths.
02/25/14: Previous Aggression archived
The Greensboro News & Record captured images of the fatally attacking family pit bull, male, along with two Beware of Dog signs posted on the family's home and documentation of the pit bull being held in quarantine as "very aggressive." Neighbor Katherine Dixon, 24, who lives next door, said the family moved in about a year ago and have two pit bulls. A few months ago, both pit bulls broke through a fence an attacked a neighbor's pet dog that was being walked by its owner.
The incident put Dixon and her husband, who have three young sons, on "high alert about the dogs," she said. "When I’m taking the boys out to play, if the dogs are outside, we come back in," she said. Dixon noted that she had not seen the second pit bull recently. Police still have not released the victim's name, nor is there any additional information about the family's second dog.2 The attacking pit bull is currently being held in quarantine at the Guilford County Animal Shelter.
02/25/14: Pit Bull Kills Child
High Point, NC - In a developing story, a 3-year old child was killed by a pit bull Monday evening, according to High Point Police. A family member took the injured child to High Point Regional Hospital where the child died. The incident on Big Creek Court was reported at 5:02 pm, according to early news reports. The pit bull was confiscated and taken to an unnamed animal shelter. At this time, the name of the victim has not been released. More information is expected later Tuesday.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: North Carolina Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.2In a late Tuesday update, it was reported that the family's second pit bull "remains with the family."
Related articles:
11/05/13: 2013 Dog Bite Fatality: Kernersville Woman, 25, Killed by Her Boyfriend's Two Pit Bulls
12/12/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Yadkin County Infant Mauled to Death by Family Dog
10/04/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Pembroke 'Dog Rescuer' Killed by Own Dogs
09/14/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: 10-Month Old Hertford Boy Killed by Pit Bull
08/16/12: 2012 Dog Bite Fatality: Person County Authorities Charge Pit Bull Owner
Photos: News-Record.com
Hope that the unnamed animal shelter puts the dog down immediately. It does NOT deserve to be re-homed.
"Police said they aren't releasing the victim's name out of respect for the family." — Because it is a well to do family? Or just another North Carolina dogfighting family?
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http://www.wxii12.com/news/local-news/piedmont/3yearold-killed-by-dog-in-high-point-police-say/24655020
I am truly sorry for the 3-year-old child who lost her life. I am also sorry for the mother and family who had to watch as this vicious, vile demon dog killed this precious little child. God help them.
Fox 8 (WGHP) Facebook — "Vickie Jennings Legge That three year old little angel was the granddaughter of my best friend!! The dog was very trained and well loved even by that baby girl!! How dare any of you who do not know this family make assumptions based on a brief news story!! This family is hurting and the mother of this baby is wracked with pain as well as all the people in this babies life who love her!! The mother was also hurt badly trying to save her child!!! Are people so cruel that the only thing they can get on here and say is these ugly wicked statements based on what YOU think you know!!! How dare you!!! This is what our society has come to!!! How about say how sorry you are for the loss of this sweet baby!! You should really be ashamed if yourselves and God have mercy on you and I pray that you never have to experience what this family and the mother of this child has had to tonight as her child died in her arms!!!!"
What went wrong? What gottdamn excuse does a human being have to justify the cause of this death? Of course as always the innocent child loved the animal as did the animal loved the child but what supporters of pit bulls are not understanding is that this is a game bred animal and that no matter how much they want to believe, once the switch is triggered LOVE DOES NO MATTER!!! I keep asking with the (400 I got corrected) breeds out there why do humans keep choosing this breed???? The responses on Faces of BSL Apologist Facebook page only further the dimentia as to why humans keep supporting a baby killer…they will not answer except to say pretty much mind my own fucking business and call me an animal hater…I do not want the owners, their children, other adults, innocent children, or any other pets attacked or killed by this breed or any of the mixes or names they hide behind….voting is private for a reason…we the people are coming…
honey, I understand that a person could get extremely upset over loved ones, but these accusations are way off base, unto non-existence. If you have a problem with anything that has been stated here, you are grousing to the wrong venue. Quotations are from the source articles themselves, it is to those entities you should direct your ire. Additionally, apparently you fail to recognize this in your cloud of greif, but this site is a safety and education website.
Dogsbite works hard to present all the information and facts possible about the dangerous dog issue, and among those, are the precedent-confirmed assertion that training does not matter, and that well trained pitbulls kill without prejudice. No one is accusing them of not training the dog, no where on this post does anyone even mention training as the factor causing the child's death. We understand that well trained and loved and nurtured dogs of this breed turn on good people spontaneously and unprovoked.
If anything, the message here is a kindness to the victims family.
There is no name calling here. As to the mother… if you would actually reread the site to acquire a little more comprehension, you would also find that there are people here who HAVE lost their children to dangerous dogs, some of which turned on by their own pets as this little one was. if anyone can empathize, they are it… I don't know how on earth your line of thinking went towards construing an informative and sympathetic group hoping to prevent the very loss your friend has just experienced. Kindred spirits honey, not enemies.
Pittie seems to be liking little girls this year. It seems he latched on to this little girl's stomach and "WOULDN'T LET GO" !!!
So am I reading this correctly, the two pit bulls had broken through a fence to attack a dog that was being walked and this family continued to keep the dogs? Obviously with no concern for their neighbors or their own family.
I am so sad that another child has been killed by a pit bull, but I honestly could not donate money to a family that continued their pit bull experiment after the first incident.
WHO is to blame here ??? For the horrible killing of a precious little girl?
Animal Control Authorities who KNOW that pitbulls are inherently dangerous, and keep allowing people to keep them as pets (tho they don't allow lions or alligators for the same reason)
Bleeding heart pitbull lovers who promote the MIS-INFORMATION that it's NOT the breed, it's the way they're raised? (false, dogs are born with traits and abilities)
The parents who should have known better than to let a powerful, prone to attack and kill animal to have access to their child?
All of the above? x check
Why hasn't this dog been euthanized? They can look at its brain afterwards to check for rabies.
It seems to me that keeping this dog alive is just putting shelter staff and visitors in danger. What if it escapes? Plus, some pit bull fanatics may try to get it released so they can "rehabilitate" it.
"I am so sad that another child has been killed by a pit bull, but I honestly could not donate money to a family that continued their pit bull experiment after the first incident."
@PutMeInCharge.., I thought the exact same thing. The warning signs were there and the parents chose the dog over everything else.
SO the family is keeping the "other" pit bull?
Colleen, thank you so much for your work here. If it were not for you and a few others (Decatur AL, Dawn James, et al.) these stories would stay local stories and no one would realize just how many people are killed by someone's choice of pet.
This is such a horrible way to die. My heart is breaking for this little girl and her misinformed family. We are so careful with our children, trying to protect them from car accidents, window blind strangling, and furniture falling on them, among other things. I will assume that these parents also worried about these things and a million others. Then they listened to the lies and got a killer as a pet. It staggers the imagination.
Garnet I wholeheartedly agree with you. Especially if the quote about the father saying he was going to "kill the dog" is true.
There is no reason to continue to put people at risk.
I also worry about entities like Lexus wanting to "save" the dog.
I agree with the sentiment that the parents of this deceased child are grade A, first class, narcissistic douchebags. I am sorry for the child but NOT them.
Forget about statistics, anecdotes, or propaganda – those two assholes KNEW FOR A FACT the dogs were dangerous PRIOR to their kid being killed. Even the next door neighbors evolved the sense to avoid the dogs after the FIRST attack (that went completely unpunished, as usual).
This is a manslaughter at a minimum. This is no different than driving drunk with your kid in the car… AFTER you have already had a DUI crash!
Screw them and their "suffering".
Maybe they have no other children to lose?
What gets me is that this guy isn' on e of the macho look at how tough my dog is nutters. Everything on his page about pit bulls is memes and pictures about how they're just like any other dog – and if you raise them right they're great. Meanwhile, in real life, he's letting his maulers attack pets and terrorizing the entire neighborhood and keeping a pit bull with a bite history and proven aggression around when this little girl comes over. AND is convinced now it was just the one that was a killer.
Something to think about the next time you see a nutter say their pit is just wonderful and its all how you raise them.
I just hope the remaining dog isn't carrying this one's pups.
BSL-because it protects people from their own stupidity.
No its not. They gave it away. They were allowed to keep it as they were found not to be aggressive.
Yes, this is what our society has come to, that no matter HOW many warning signs there are people still put this shit breed ahead of the lives of their own children.