Police Believe N.C. Boy, 3, Killed By Neighbor's Pit Bull
www.NewsNet5.com, Ohio
January 14, 2004, An autopsy
report on a 3-year-old boy found dead in a neighbor's back yard Tuesday
night in Harnett County suggests he was mauled to death by a neighbor's
chained-up pit bull. The autopsy report states the injuries were to the
upper torso of Nathan Roy Hill (pictured, left), of Bunnlevel. The sheriff's
office said it appears Hill wandered into a neighbor's yard and into the
reach of the dog.
The boy's body was found just before 6:30 p.m. EST. Authorities found two
bite marks on Hill's body. Sheriff Larry Rollins said only that the boy had
"trauma to the body."
Christy Gambill said her son was last seen two hours earlier, playing
outside. When Gambill could not find her son, neighbors stared searching.
They did not look near the dog, since she said Nathan was scared of it. Then
Gambill called 911. A responding officer found the boy's body next door near
the 80- to 90-pound dog. The deputy shot the dog to get to the boy's body.
Authorities said the boy was found lying between two pit bulls that were
chained, and deputies had to use pepper spray and shoot one of the dogs to
get to the body. The other dog, which authorities say was not involved, was
taken away by animal control. "It's hard. It hasn't fully hit yet. I'm just
trying to get things done before it hits," Gambill said.
Veronica Copley, the owner of the dogs, helped search for the boy. She told
WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., that she has had the dogs for seven years and has
a child of her own, but that there has never been any trouble with her pets.
A "Beware of the Dog" sign is posted on her property.
Neighbors said animal control has been called to the neighborhood before.
The boy's stepfather, who was on military duty in Iraq, was notified about
the death and is on his way home, Rollins said. The boy's father lives in
Texas.
Investigators are trying to determine if the dog had rabies. The child and
dog involved are being examined by the Medical Examiner's Office in Chapel
Hill, N.C.
As deputies continue their investigation, they are trying to determine
whether neglect charges should be filed against Gambill for leaving her son
unsupervised.
Across the country, 79 percent of all fatal dog attacks were on children
under the age of 12; 21 percent of those attacks involved a pit bull, or a
pit bull mix.
According to Fatal Dog Attacks, from 1965 through 2001, 25 percent of all
deadly dog attacks were inflicted by chained dogs. An equal amount resulted
from dogs that were loose in their yard. Twenty-three percent occurred
inside the home and 17 percent resulted from attacks by dogs roaming off
their property. Another 10 percent involved leashed dogs or other
miscellaneous circumstances.
