A loose pit bull mauled an 8-year-old girl on her front doorstep in Prince George's County, Maryland, Tuesday, alarming and outraging her family and neighbors.
A doorbell camera shows Christina Jefferson being dragged off the front steps of her family’s home on 27th Avenue in Hillcrest Heights by a large, gray pit bull.
Christina had just returned from school and went out to play in the front yard, said her mother, Lakesha Jefferson. Jefferson says she was on the phone and will never forget the sound she heard a few minutes later.
“There was a scream of ‘I’m being attacked,’” Jefferson said. “She said, ‘Mommy! Mommy! I need you! I’m being attacked!’”
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Jefferson acted with the fierce, blind strength of a mother defending her child’s life.
“The dog was on my daughter’s ankle; he would not let up,” she said. “I’m fighting with a pit bull at this moment. I grabbed her, locked her in, and I’m steady fighting with my right foot, my left hand, and then I switch arms.”
Other family members in the house including, Christina’s older brother, rushed to help. Christina’s uncle finally yelled at the dog in a big, booming voice, and it released the little girl.
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“He was like, ‘Let her go!’” Jefferson said. “I said, ‘You won’t get this child. Not today.’ He clamped back on her again as we pulled her in the house.”
Christina’s injuries were extremely serious. Her mother called 911 and performed first aid while waiting for an ambulance, keeping pressure on the deep bite marks. A pool of blood formed on the floor next to the Christmas tree.
“So, I said, ‘I’m right here. I got you. We’re going to go get help,’” Jefferson said. “At this moment, she’s asking for a cross. She knew about God and stuff.”
Jefferson said she knows that in addition to the physical injuries, Christina -- a happy, bright, well-adjusted child -- will carry long-term mental trauma from the attack.
She later learned the dog menaced other neighbors, including a woman holding a baby. It makes her angry.
“This dog was unattended. This dog had struck my daughter and also had struck my neighbor’s cat and ate the cat,” Jefferson said.
Because of the severity of the little girl’s injuries, the dog’s owner faces serious penalties. Police and Animal Control officers responding to the attack searched for the dog but were unable to find it.
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