Father Woke Up to Baby Dead in its Bassinet
Barrett Hagans, 1-month old, was mauled to death by a family pit bull in Pike Township.
No Criminal Charges
UPDATE 09/29/17: After a father awoke last week to his 1-month old baby mauled to death by a family dog, Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville announced that no charges would be filed. "Based upon the autopsy results, there is no reason to believe that this child’s death was caused by anything other than a dog attack," he said. Barrett Hagans was attacked and killed by a family pit bull of 7-years as he slept in his bassinet. The dog had no documented history of aggression.
"While these events are horrifying, and perhaps preventable, they do not rise to the level of criminal conduct." - Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville
Painfully, the baby's father, Teddy Hagans, was alone overnight for the first time with his infant son and his two pit bulls when the attack occurred, reports The Columbus Dispatch. The article also shows us why criminal charges were initially anticipated. According to McConville, police found dozens of empty beer cans, drug paraphernalia and a back room littered with "so much urine and feces in it that I could not breathe due to the odor," an investigator noted, reports The Dispatch.
As typical after many fatal dog attacks, the prosecutor echoed the same lack of evidence that is often required to file criminal charges. The father would have had to have knowledge of the dog's vicious propensities, posing a substantial risk to the child, and failed to keep the baby safe. Prior to 2012, Ohio state law designated all pit bulls "vicious." Had this law still been in place, McConville would have had a sturdier case, along with the appalling conditions inside the father's home.
09/27/17: Death by Dog Attack
The Knox County Coroner ruled that a 1-month old baby boy found dead in its bassinet last week died due to injuries suffered in a dog mauling. Barrett Hagans died from "extensive blunt and crush force injuries with puncture injuries" inflicted by a male pitbull/pitbull mix, a press release from Knox County Coroner Dr. Jennifer Ogle said Wednesday. The autopsy, conducted one day after the fatal pit bull mauling, found no other trauma besides what was inflicted by the family dog.
The baby's death was reported by his father, Teddy Hagans, 25, at 6:10 am on September 20. According to Ogle, the baby's bassinet was located in the father's bedroom. The pit bull fatally attacked the baby while his father slept. The baby's head was so mutilated by the time of the 911 call, the father did not even attempt CPR, according to 911 recordings examined by The Columbus Dispatch. At the time of the attack, the baby's mother, Courtney Cole, 23, was not at the home.
Authorities removed two family pit bulls from Hagans' residence after the mauling. Both animals were "euthanized for examination" via a court-ordered search warrant and the contents of their stomachs were examined. A previous report from Mount Vernon News states there were no prior incidents reported to the Knox County Sheriff's Officer or the Knox County Dog Warden involving the two pit bulls at the home. The status of the criminal investigation, presumably, is ongoing.
09/20/17: Fatal Dog Mauling Suspected
Mount Vernon, OH - A 1-month old infant is dead after what is believed to be dog mauling. Early Wednesday, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of an infant killed by a dog in the 16000 block of Wooster Road in Pike Township. Sheriff's deputies, the Knox County Coroner's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are investigating the baby's death, according to a press release. The Knox County Dog Warden has removed two dogs from the residence.
In a 911 call, the baby’s father stated his son is dead and that the dog killed the baby, reports Mount Vernon News. The death of an infant nearly always initiates a full homicide investigation no matter what the baby's caretaker said in a 911 call or told arriving law enforcement officers. The coroner's office is expected make a ruling on the cause and manner of death. No other information has been released at this time, including the breeds of dogs that were removed from the home.
Late Afternoon Updates
The Columbus Dispatch reports that both dogs seized were pit bulls. A statement by Knox County Prosecutor Chip McConville simply says, “There is probably more that we don’t know than what we do know right now." A report from WCMH plays part of the 911 call, which identified the caller as Teddy Hagans. He said he "woke up to find his baby dead in his bassinet this morning." This could indicate culpability for the father. Police continue to investigate and collect evidence.
Video: The male caller in the 911 call identified himself as Teddy Hagans. And said that he woke up to find his baby dead in his bassinet this morning. He described a gruesome scene and told the police dispatcher that his dog was responsible.
Dispatcher: Your dog killed your baby?
Hagans: Yeah.
Dispatcher: How old is your baby?
Hagans: He's a month old.
A 2014 photo on Teddy Hagans' Facebook page shows a male, unneutered pit bull named "Roby."
A distinctly pit bull propaganda image from 2014 shows a different infant lying with a family pit bull.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Ohio Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.
Related articles:
01/18/17: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Infant Killed by Family Dog in San Marcos, Texas
07/03/17: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Family Pit Bull Kills 3-Week Old Baby Girl in Grand Rapids
08/07/17: 2017 Dog Bite Fatality: Bangor Infant Injured by Family Dog Pronounced Dead
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.
I had a middle-aged employee of a chain store comment to me about her (8!) dogs when she noticed I was buying dog food. She admitted that she just had to have plastic surgery after her "latest rescue" attacked another dog in her home, and then attacked her after she managed to separate them.
She explained this behavior by saying that the dog "had been abused" in a previous home, and cannot tolerate being around any other dogs. Despite this, she is still keeping the animal who mauled her in her multi-dog household.
My hometown. So sad, yet people still wantonly allow dogs capable of killing around their children.
Packhorse, that sounds like hoarding behavior. Some rescuers seem to develop a mental illness, don't they? What kind of life would that be for a dog who couldn't stand being around other dogs, yet he was forced to live in a home with 7 others? That's not being "rescued."
And here we have another baby killed by a kind of dog that obviously should not be around babies. Nanny dog, my eye. Poor little innocent new life, snuffed out.
A friend works for the dog warden, I'm sure he was involved. Had to have been difficult.
EyesOpened makes a good point. I have met more than a few of the so-called rescuers who also have serious mental issues.
IMHO, they need to put more time and energy into solving their own problems. It's like what they tell you on airplanes, put your own oxygen mask on first.
Super dog? More like looking for something to kill or marking since as usual the POS isn't fixed. BSL protects children from their parents stupidity.
Well, I looked at his FB page. Ultrasound images of the baby and everyone is happy. Then I looked at the mother's. She has nothing but pictures of her baby since he was born. Prior to that, herself pregnant and cherishing that time in her life. All ofb it gone because pitbulls make great pets.
Sick. Another child dead. Only one month on this earth, only to be killed by a demonic animal. No one to hear his cries or save him. Just sad.
Super Dog! Able to snuff out the life of an infant with just one bite.
Another photo to add to the long list of pibble wibble baby photos where the pit later went on to maul/kill a child. So sad. This family is forever crushed because they believed the pit nanny dog nonsense. This is why we must keep fighting for the truth to get out there.
"Roby" isn't the kind of name you'd pick for a dog you see as bad-ass or mean in any way. The photo of the other pit bull with a different baby shows that the father believed the lies, that pit bulls are great with kids. I don't see anything in those photos or on the parents' FB pages that indicate they are the kind of rabid nutters who know what pit bulls do and defend them anyway. They are victims of the propaganda who believed every lie that came their way.
It had to have been a fighting dog, right? Family pitbulls don't just attack innocent people, right? It's all in how you raise them, right?
Do pit wackadoos understand that they negate their own arguments and sound like absolute morons when they spew their cliched, desperate, insanity?
Former fighting dogs (they ALWAYS refer to the Vick dogs) can lead happy, healthy lives as family pets, but when a family pet slaughters an innocent person, it HAD to have been raised wrong and treated poorly. Which is it? And who the f**k "raises" a dog to intentionally kill their baby or mother or landlord or neighbor? Pit nutters simply raise a breed capable of such violence. Then they act shocked when Mr. Wiggles who "would lick you to death" actually rips the throat out of a child or elderly relative.
What exactly triggered this "sweet wiggle butt pibble" to kill a tiny sleeping infant? Not only kill, but mutilate and mangle. Because there HAS to be a reason, right? It couldn't possibly be the ingrained genetics of a beast selectively bred for centuries to
annihilate anything weaker than them.
As long as pit freaks continue to push their dangerous agenda, innocent pets and people will continue to die. Pit bulls are dangerous – period. I'm sick to death of these animals being bandied about like they're no different than Labs or Golden Retrievers. I see more and more in my community. I HATE it. Pit bulls are a favorite among millenials now. "Look how politically correct I am! I rescued a marginalized breed of dog! Look how noble I am!" It's not noble or brave or awesome to own or rescue these beasts. It's stupid, plain and simple.
Another innocent baby is dead because her parents believed the lies. Sad beyond words.
K-Hart, you hit the nail on the head…unfortunately. It's certainly been a brilliant marketing ploy on the part of the pit pushers to identify these dogs with the whole PC movement. Sigh.
Police euthanized a family’s two dogs to figure out which one killed their infant
That's the headline of a Miami Herald article (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article176032196.html)
about this child's horrible death. Obviously, the important thing here is that the family had to have both dogs unjustly euthanized. Not the death of their infant. Not the fact that she was literally torn apart by a family pet while she innocently slept. The way these stories are reported really shows that nutters feel dogs are more important than people.
One coroner looking at this is not enough. Where I live there is a checklist of multiple considerations in the death of any infant. Where is the culpability? Did the dog choose these disgusting conditions? An unneutered male dog, never seen outside the house….? Can children's services consider this situation and make a determination? I know there is no baby to protect anymore, but even after the fact, something is desperately wrong here.
Too many questions. Lovely baby. More investigating needed even though the suffering will never end. Facebook niceties never tell all.
wow…….was he taking sleeping pills or was he drunk !? Who sleeps through a pitbull attack….seriously !?
Dear God…