A 1-year-old Rocky Mount girl has died after being viciously attacked by her family’s dog, according to the Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office.
The attack occurred on Oct. 22 at a home located on N.C. Highway 43, authorities said. Deputies received a call from the home regarding a dog actively attacking a child.
According to the sheriff’s office, the 6-year-old dog was the family’s pet and was “slinging the child around in its mouth.”
The sheriff’s office confirmed Monday that Triniti Harrell died from injuries sustained in the attack.
No charges are expected to be filed in the incident.
“We ask for continued prayers for her family and the first responders who were involved,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.
Last week, the mother of the child told deputies she was trying to stab the dog to stop the attack, but it didn’t work.
A detective arrived first on scene and witnessed the attack happening and pulled out his gun and shot the dog twice in the head, killing it, Sheriff Clee Atkinson said.
The first shot did not affect the dog. The second shot killed the animal, the sheriff said.
“He’s definitely a hero, because in law enforcement, sometimes that 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds is life or death,” Atkinson said. “He saw at that point, and it was a tough shot. We’ve discussed this and some officers wouldn’t have been able to make this shot.”
Emergency officials and deputies on scene “performed emergency first aid on the child to try to stabilize her as as she was clinging to life at this point,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
The girl was taken to the hospital and then flown to Vidant Pitt for treatment.
She was then transported to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill where she later died.
The Edgecombe County Sheriff’s Office said the dog involved in the attack was a pit bull-mix.