The Baby's Mother was Charged with Three Counts of Neglect
Julian Connell, 26 days old, was killed by a family pit bull-mix in Lafayette, Indiana.
One Year in Prison
UPDATE 12/14/20: Jennifer Connell, 38, pleaded guilty in September to one count of neglect of a dependent in connection to the mauling death of her infant son on January 25 -- a level 5 felony. Prosecutors dismissed two other lower counts. On December 14, Tippecanoe County Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer sentenced Connell to one year in prison and four years of probation. Arriving police officers were forced to shoot the dog to reach the infant, but the baby was already dead.
The Journal and Courier reports that it was Connell's teenage son, Jameson, who told police that his mother had planned to get rid of the dog because it had bruised and scratched infant Julian a week before the dog killed the baby, according to prosecutors. Prior to the fatal attack, Jameson broke up a fight between the pit bull-mix and a beagle-mix in the home. Jameson removed the smaller dog from the room. When he returned to the room, the pit bull-mix had attacked the baby.
07/01/20: Mother Charged in Infant's Death
On June 30, 2020, Tippecanoe County prosecutors charged the mother of an infant who was killed by a family dog on January 25. Jennifer Nicole Connell was arrested and charged with three counts of neglect of a dependent in connection to her infant's dog mauling death. Connell told police she was trying to rehome the pit bull-mix because the dog had recently become aggressive toward the infant, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Journal & Courier.
On January 25, arriving officers had to shoot the dog in order to reach the victim. Investigators also found the home littered with animal feces and dead mice in various states of decay, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors charged Connell with neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injuries for keeping a known aggressive dog in the home with her infant. She was also charged with two counts of neglect for keeping her son and infant in an unsanitary and unsafe house.
The first charge appears to be a Level 1 felony under the Indiana penal code, "places the dependent in a situation that endangers the dependent's life or health" and "results in the death of a dependent who is less than fourteen (14) years of age." The arrest photograph of Connell is particularly chilling. Two weeks before the arrest, she announced on Facebook that she had lost India -- the beagle-mix that "Maisie" the pit bull-mix had attacked before killing the infant.
The pit bull-mix, "Maisie," seen on the couch of the family's home with one of Connell's sons.
01/27/20: Family Dog Kills Infant
Lafayette, IN - A one-month old baby is dead after being mauled by a family pit bull-mix, Lafayette police said Monday. The attack occurred at 1901 Greenbush Street at about 11:30 am Saturday. Police were dispatched to the residence after the infant's teenage brother called 911 -- both the brother and the baby's mother were in the home when the attack occurred. The pit bull-mix had been "fighting" with a beagle-mix in the home prior to attacking and killing the infant, police said.
The teenage brother separated the fighting dogs, according to police, and that is when the pit bull attacked the baby (redirected aggression).
The dog fight occurred in the same room where police found baby Julian Connell and the pit bull, the Journal & Courier reports. Officers arrived to find the dog standing over the infant, police said. Officer Neil Cain shot and killed the animal in order to reach the baby boy and begin life-saving aid. Connell was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The family's surviving beagle-mix dog was taken to Purdue Veterinary Hospital for medical treatment.
The Tippecanoe County Coroner Donna Avolt said a preliminary autopsy showed the infant died from "multiple sharp force injuries" after sustaining dog bites to his head and neck. The manner of death was an accident. Lafayette Police are still investigating where the infant was lying when the dog fatally attacked him. WTHR reports the teenage brother took the injured beagle-mix out of the room after the dog fight. When he returned to the room, the pit bull-mix had attacked the baby.
"The two dogs were engaged in some sort of a fight in the bedroom where the infant was staying. The brother was actually able to separate the beagle away from the pit bull, take it out of the room and when he returned, he found that the pit bull had attacked the infant," Lafayette Police Lt. Matt Gard said. "The infant did suffer some catastrophic injuries." When Officer Cain arrived, in order to render aid to the infant, the officer had to fire his handgun one time, killing the dog, Guard said.
The Presence of Adults
Last July, we wrote about the Central Texas pediatric study, whose findings showed that parental presence was reported in 43.6% of all attacks and 72.5% were of major severity (Abraham et al., 2019). Multiple studies from Level 1 trauma centers examining severe dog bite injuries report similar findings, including that "Dog familiarity did not confer safety" (Garvey et al., 2015) and "Infants were more than 4 times as likely to be bitten by the family dog." (Golinko et al, 2017)
More recently, a West Virginia study stated, "Our study confirms the dangerous interactions between some dogs, principally pit bulls, and vulnerable persons, especially young children. The number and extent of injuries sustained by many patients, in particular among the owners or family members who had a pit bull in residence, should prompt serious consideration as to the implications of having a dangerous dog." The study called for stronger polices to protect children.
"Our study confirms the dangerous interactions between some dogs, principally pit bulls, and vulnerable persons, especially young children. The number and extent of injuries sustained by many patients, in particular among the owners or family members who had a pit bull in residence, should prompt serious consideration as to the implications of having a dangerous dog. Pediatric anticipatory guidance should include cautionary measures when it comes to safety in the home environment and potential dangers with some dog breeds." (Khan et al., Dog-Bite Injuries to the Craniofacial Region, J Oral Maxillofac Surg, [2019 Nov 14, Epub)
Recent pit bull fatalities involving active adult presence at the time of the attack include: the death of 13-month old Baby "Doug" Doe in California, whose babysitter was in "very close proximity" with the child when the family pit bull attacked, the death of 9-month old Liana Valino in Florida, whose grandmother was with the child when the dog attacked and the death of 1-year old Triniti Harrell in North Carolina, whose mother was with the baby when the family pit bull viciously attacked.
Dog house seen at home where a family pit bull-mix killed an infant in Lafayette, Indiana.
View the DogsBite.org Google State Map: Indiana Fatal Pit Bull Attacks.Related articles:
09/24/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: 13-Month Old Boy Killed by Family Pit Bull in Granite Bay
06/24/19: Central Texas Pediatric Study: Pit Bulls Inflicted the Highest Prevalence and Severity...
06/07/18: 2018 Dog Bite Fatality: Infant Killed by Family Pit Bull While Under Grandmother's Care
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
Pit bulls and pit bull mixes should NEVER be around young children and babies. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, this baby will probably not be the only baby/child killed by pit bulls this year. I believe that a human child is always more important than any dog.
He will not be the only one killed by a Pit Bull this week
My next door neighbor has a pit bull mix which is outside all day. When I work in my yard (mowing, raking leaves, etc_)
he goes crazy barking, snarling, and trying to break the fence. I’m scared that he would attack and kill me if he ever got out.
I hope you are armed.
yep that’s what i would suggest and the Ruger SUPER REDHAWK ALASKAN would be a smart choice -seein’ as how sometimes it takes quite a few bullets to bring down some pit bulls (i dont know if it’s because they r using small calibers or slugs or what ) but it would be best to increase ur chances for bringing them down with 1 shot so i would go with a bigger caliber-no messin’ around!
I’ve made this comment before and will do so again. Remember that you are responsible for every round that comes out of your handgun. If you shoot at a charging dog and miss, you are responsible for the damage done by that round. That damage, in the worst case scenario, could be the killing of another human. If that happens, you will be in huge trouble with the law. I am not saying do not arm yourself. Me…I do carry a Glock 26 (it’s easy to carry and conceal), but I would only use it if I had a point blank shot with no humans around.
Why aren’t these dangerous dogs outlawed, i mean what’s it going to take. Hasn’t there been enough proof.
Reading this made me sad. If only the teenager would have grabbed the baby and brought him to safety while the dogs were fighting. I get he was probably concerned about his other dog, he might not have even considered the pit going after the baby, but it’s still so saddening to read.
The teenager is a victim, too. I cannot imagine the PTSD he will have over this. It is not fair of you to victim blame. This is not his fault. This is the fault of whichever adult brought that pit into the family circle. He is not the parent and he is not responsible for caring for a young sibling even if the parent told him to watch the baby.
Not once did I blame this boy of the child’s death. I stated what I wished he would have done in that situation, that is all. No where did I say it was his fault or responsibility that the baby ended up losing his life and I have no idea where you got that.
Bailey, I understood your comment completely. It wasn’t victim blaming at all. It was wistful thinking. I’m sure this young man trusted the dog not to kill the baby. If adults are stupid enough to buy into the “nanny dog” myth, why would we expect more from this teenager. And, yes, we all agree, he will have to live with this horrific tragedy, as will the rest of his family, for life. Apparently, mom was also clueless when it comes to having babies around this kind of dog. Tragic on every level.
I also did not read your comment as victim blaming, for what it’s worth.
No surprises here. I notice that the beagle-mix did not redirect its aggression on the baby. Or maybe the beagle did not have to be removed from the scene because it was not the pit bull that was injured.
What makes dangerous breeds insidious is that they appear to be ok/fine for a period of time, deceptively lulling people who are in denial into a false sense of always ok/fineness, until suddenly, life on this earth is over.
Couldn’t have said it better !
It’s a shame the boy didn’t choose to remove the pit bull or the baby from the room. However, considering the heat of a dog fight, he likely took the beagle mix to safety and didn’t even think about the baby.
Not a nanny dog.
You are blaming a “boy.” Just think about that for a second. He is not the parent, not the adult.
yep that danged teenager made the wrong decision! every1 knows when u break up a fight between a pit bull mix and another dog inside of a house, the 1st thing u do is remove babies and small children from the area FIRST,
THEN seperate the dogs…
(sarcasm)
exactly-i agree how can u blame that teenager! apparently he called 911 immediately -which is more than i can say for some adults ive read about during a dog attacking a baby!
the only valid protocol is DONT POSSESS A PIT BULL-and thats the parents’ faults for owning a ticking time bomb-because EVERY pit bull WILL detonate if it lives long enough the only UNpredictability about that is ‘when’
*and please excuse any typos or spelling errors (im uzually a reel gud spellur)
I kinda agree. We don’t know how old this kid is and he is not the parent. The parent is the responsible one for the baby. It’s in no way the kids responsibility to decide what to do in such a situation. The mother most likely directed him. I’m sure they all feel horrific.
this part: “able to separate the beagle away from the pit bull, take it out of the room”… im pretty sure that the beagle mix could be moved by the teenager and led/escorted out of the room -but doing the same with the pit bull mix might not have been possible at all
also-im sure the door to the room had to be closed behind him when he removed the beagle mix (and im sure it was all done in an extreme rush and happened very fast)
and another thing-i ASSUME that the parent/s beleived that the pit bull would never attack the baby because pit bulls are only animal aggressive and are actually very protective and loyal especially to women and children …blah blah blah
so what went wrong? 1 of the dogs was a pit bull mix-thats what went wrong
Quote snip: “…so what went wrong? 1 of the dogs was a pit bull mix-thats what went wrong”
You are correct. There existed a dangerous breed of canine and a human being on the surface of the the earth at the same time, at or about the same place. That is what went wrong.
i know right? i stumbled onto this website this past year because i heard a very breif mention of a 16 yr old box in tx being killed by dogs on our local news-then never another mention of it again (not even on any of our 3 local news channels websites-go figure)
so i googled “16 yr old killed by dogs tx”
ended up here and ive read every account from 2005 to present and its disturbing to me
i guess ive had more than my share of 1st witnessing what dogs do-since 1 was 13 ive raised sheep and goats-and i have lots of horror stories and disturbing images burned into my brain from my 1st hand experiences but after reading all the reports of incidences on this site ,i guess i should just consider myself lucky ive never seen or been the human that was mauled and killed… i live in central tx and driving down the streets in waco or the roads in rural mclennan county this area is infested with dogs running loose and usually in groups of 2 or 3 but i never see humans out walking around
Welcome, J, to this oasis of sanity. We’re glad you’re here.
thank you
I donated a small amout, but honestly, the frequency of these attacks which always result in GoFundMes, I could easily spend my whole SS check in $10.00 donations if I helped them all, there are so many of them everyday. Try to chose ones endorsed by dogsbite. The 14 year old was not at fault at all, but the parents are. .My hope is that both parents go to jail and that a loving home is found for the 14 y/o…with caring parents and no Pit Bulls
If anyone is at fault here, it’s those people who convince others that pit bulls are nanny dogs and safe around children.
Agree! Best Friends, Humane Society of America and local legislators that accept their bribes are at the top of the list. In addition every pit bull rescue , every private citizen that drives unadoptable pit bulls across state lines to avoid euthanasia are also responsible. The list is long.
i always try to imagine myself in the victims shoes whenever i learn about a tragedy and putting myself in the place of a person ,especially a kid baby or innocent adult (non owner of the killing dog) its really morbid and disturbing when i think about and try to imagine what that victim’s last concious moments were like-how physically painful it was and how mentally frightening and horrifying-and i dont consider 4-5 times per month a ‘freak’ accident or occurence -in my opinion that is common
As long as we have the media, celebrities and these lobbyists push this vile breed as ” wonderful and safe family pets ” , nothing will change.
exactly-i totally agree that the media is the problem -the media brainwashes and manipulates the public and celebrities are irresponsible and ignorant (by choice) -u cant reason with them because they refuse factual information
theres no excuse for being ignorant about anything in this day and age-the information is out there for every1-u do have to work for it a little because the media tries to deceive and hide certain truths but a person with common sense can figure out what is true by checking the source of the information-therefore ignorance is just laziness-im not saying every1 should know everything it’s just they shouldnt go opening their mouths and and putting themselves in debates unless theyve taken their time to become properly informed (i guess celebs r too busy for all that -thats why they need to just be quiet)
My kids enjoy “America’s Top Dog”, which shows off the skills of 4-5 police K9s and their handlers, as well as one “underdog” which is a trained civilian dog. The police K9s are generally what you’d expect – GSDs, Malinois, Dutch Shepherds, etc. For most of the episodes, the “underdog” has been some version of a pit bull. It’s generally a pathetic attempt to garner sympathy and praise for a breed that has no place in civilized society. One hideous landshark was proclaimed to be a “highly trained family protection” dog. A frigging pit bull. Is there anything more counterintuitive on the planet? The breed known for killing more people every year than all other breeds combined, many of them members of the pit bull’s household, and they choose that thing as a “family protection” dog. What a joke, and how irresponsible. We already have 2 dead babies in January, but we can’t get away from the “pibbles are wiggle butts who love everyone” propaganda. It’s everywhere you turn.
Pit bulls – savage lions in pit bull clothing (no disrespect to lions.)
I saw where a golden retriever who has a large social media following was attacked by another dog over the weekend, resulting in a mangled leg.
All of these other people were chiming in, talking about how their own dogs were injured or even killed by aggressive dogs.
The common thread running through all of them? No one dared disclose the breed of the dog who attacked. The one who attacked the Golden leaped its owner’s fence to maul a dog being walked on a leash–now tell me, how many breeds do that?
The pit lobby has everyone terrified of even acknowledging when a pit does something bad–even though it happens constantly.
yep – ‘leaped its owner’s fence to maul a dog being walked’ enough said
pro pit bull ppl-they r EXACTLY the same as crooked politicians-they re always right there johnny on the spot to start making excuses ,throwing out red herrons and really scrambling to hide truths and deceive
its because they KNOW they r wrong-thats why they have to work so hard to get ppl drunk off their kool aid
It’s very sad, you read where the same owners whose dogs have just been slaughtered by pits parrot the “well, it could have been ANY breed” line when they’re being interviewed by the media. Except for some reason it isn’t. They just can’t conceive that these dogs do this naturally and that it doesn’t matter how much love they are shown, some of them will still have very strong drives to attack other animals and people.
All you have to do is walk down the street to see the danger so I fail to understand how all these Pitty Nutters can’t see it.
Pitbulls dragging owners doing whatever they want, lunging, snarling and acting like azzhats while the owners claim, “s/he’s friendly”. I haven’t seen a single well-trained pitbull in *years*.
We have BSL here, and they’re proliferating and not one of these owners, who could have their dog removed post haste…even bothers to muzzle them. That’s how much these Pit lovers, actually love their dogs.
It’s only a matter of time before we have dead babies, here, again.
This teen, the baby and the beagle are all victims. They’re all victims of adults who didn’t have the sense to get a dog they knew how to manage and were too lazy and entitled to train one or even research the basic problems that could occur with the two dogs they *did* have.
I drop by here maybe once a week and it’s pitbull after pitbull murder when I do drop in.
This is madness.
A few people died from Tylenol and there were warning labels, public outcry and now, nobody with less than a +10 dexterity level can get the bottles, open. All to prevent something rare.
Pitbull murders every week, the problem is solvable, the blame is clearly with the dogs, but here we are–watching the new Star Trek franchise with what, now? A pitbull snarling at people on screen as being the #1 sidekick of the hero.
Madness.
Jeezus.
my thoughts exactly-ive thought about the whole damn tylenol bullsh*t myself because h e b pulled the liquid tylenol off their shelves for about a year here -yeah its ridiculous and this whole pit bull agenda is going to eventually turn this country (safety wise anyway) into a 3rd world country where no1 is safe ,especially outside their home ,and no laws to protect ppl or prevent certain types of incidents
my parents think i exagerrate the effects of pit bulls on this society but i dont think i do
Who else is curious to see the “beagle mix”? I’ve been searching the shelters/rescues for 3 years for a dog, and I’ve seen a LOT of smaller pit bull mixes listed as beagle mixes. Two pit bull mixes ‘scrapping’ is a lot more likely a scenario for redirected aggression than the massacre that is a pit bull on a beagle mix.
Possibly, but it also very common for the scenario of one dog attacking another to be called a “fight”–even if the victim dog is just trying to get away. This is especially true if a pit is involved, because it makes the non-pit look just as guilty for “fighting.”
I do believe it was a beagle mix. Had it been another pit bull it would have been very difficult for a single teenager to separate them (have to pry open 2 sets of jaws at once).
Buy and practice using a battery powered chainsaw.
Keep it charged and nearby while gardening.
You could take it along in a stroller while walking your dog.
If a bully dog attacks, end the attack.
I have a yellow lab and a 3 year old little girl we have a 6 week old stafford terrier even though it’s not a pitbull it’s still a mix and my husband has always wanted one…while I was ok with it it’s just now hitting me that my daughters and lab are in danger…she’s cute and cuddly now but she won’t be this small forever…I honestly don’t know anymore I don’t like this at all.
The fourth paragraph needs a bit of editing: “… when Officer Cain arrived, in order to render aid to the infant, the officer had to fire his handgun one time, killing it.”
Not to be insensitive to this horrible tragedy, but the writing in that sentence makes it seem like the cop shot the baby.
Thanks for the update.
In a telling twist of irony, after I read the original story you linked to in the Journal and Courier, I noticed in the “more stories” section below the article that there had been a recall on infant’s ibuprofen drops because the concentration of ibuprofen was ten percent above what it should be per listed dosages. No one had died… it did not even mention that any child had sickened. Yet it was recalled. And I can almost guarantee that there were no comments under the story claiming that the media was biased against this brand of liquid ibuprofen, or pictures showing bottles of the defective medicine being given to a baby with the words, “My bottle of liquid ibuprofen would never hurt my baby.” Instead, the clear danger is acknowledged, the public is warned, and the dangerous medicine is removed from the market. No one cries foul. No one defends the bad medicine.
With any other “product” besides fighting breeds of dogs manufactured by humans, this is what is done if safety is a concern. The item that is deemed unsafe is recalled. It’s time for people to admit that certain breeds aren’t safe and that this needs to be acknowledged and rectified.