FL - Khloe Williams, 7 months, fatal dog attack, Clearwater, 5 OCT 2018

[MediocreJelly]

Okay, this makes me feel slightly better that some precautions were taken. I would have either had the kennel in the other room, the leash on the dog before it came out of the kennel or the baby in a highchair but at least they weren't just unattended together. Not that it changes anything.

According to Slaughter, Pamela was preparing a bottle for the baby, when the family dog -- which had been adopted from Pinellas County Animal Services in March -- became "a little energetic" in its crate. So Pamela opened the crate door. "The dog immediately goes after Khloe," Slaughter said. "Pamela Maser tried to intervene with this dog and get the dog separated from the child," he said. Khloe was rushed to Mease Countryside Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

 

[MsFacetious]

I don't pay any attention to what a shelter labels a dog as and really no one should. They often have zero idea what the dog is and just take a guess.

We adopted one that was labeled a basset hound mix. Due solely to his floppy ears. He's tall, long and skinny!

We thought maybe he was a Beagle/heeler mix. Then he got taller so we thought maybe a walker hound/heeler mix. Now that we've had him a while we think he's a pointer/heeler mix maybe. Definitely not at all a basset.

There are lots of dogs who look like they might have pit in them when they don't. There are also lots of dogs who don't look like they have pit in them but they do. Very few people can correctly identify a pit vs a non pit. Really without a $200 DNA test there is no way to know for sure.

However, knowing they knew the dog was aggressive and got it anyway eliminated any good will towards these people for me.

Then this just topped it off. She didn't call 911 immediately!! Unbelievable! This wasn't a child with a cough that you needed to know what doctor to take her to!

Could Khloe have been saved? Did she suffer more than she would have if they'd gotten there faster?

Fla. Baby Was Fatally Mauled by Dog After Being Put in Car Seat on Couch

In the ensuing minutes, Khloe cried, then whimpered, then became unresponsive. After she was taken to the hospital, she was pronounced dead.

The report notes that the babysitter delayed calling 911 for a period until reaching her son, the foster father and a law enforcement officer, who instructed her to call for help.

 

[MediocreJelly]

You're right, you can't for for sure, but given the dog was redefined from Pit mix to something else makes the cynic in me think they had a strong suspicion what it was and decided to mask it to make it more adoptable.


I didn't know about the detail of them delaying the call! That combined with their sure knowledge this particular dog could bite, makes the foster grandparents guilty in the child's death to my mind. I wonder if they would be so cavalier with a bio grandchild life? That poor baby and her poor mother, she just saw her happy and healthy hours before

 

[SeesSeas]

Unconscionable delay in calling 911:
DCF report says call to 911 delayed in fatal foster baby mauling case
Posted: Nov 14, 2018 02:14 PM EST
Updated: Nov 14, 2018 07:07 PM EST
[...]
“Mrs. Maser pried the dog’s mouth open and put her outside,” according to the report.

Maser tried to call her son, the foster father who is also a Clearwater Police Detective, but only reached his voice mail. The report says Maser then called her husband, a retired Clearwater Deputy Police Chief and asked him to come home.

After the attack, the report says Khloe was crying and bleeding so Maser took her into the bathroom to wash her face.

The foster father then called her back and when she told him what happened he instructed her to call 911.

According to the CIRRT report, Khloe was whimpering and became unresponsive by the time the foster parents arrived 15 minutes later.

At some point paramedics arrived.
[...]

 

[MsFacetious]

If Khloe could have been saved this needs to be a negligent homicide case.

 

[SeesSeas]

This news report states that the foster father called 911, not the foster grandmother. A long 15 minutes waiting for her LE son (John Maser) to arrive at the home!
"John Maser called 911, said Kevin Hayslett, a lawyer representing Pamela Maser."
Review places no blame on child welfare system in fatal dog attack on Clearwater infant
Published: November 16, 2018
Updated: November 16, 2018 at 04:30 PM
[...]
The Florida Department of Children and Families report also provides new details in the death Khloe Williams last month: the infant was in her car seat on a couch at the time of the attack and her foster grandmother called family members afterward before calling 911.

Meantime, Clearwater police detectives have concluded a separate investigation into the death and sent it to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office to determine if criminal charges are warranted, police spokesman Rob Shaw said. Prosecutors with the office are still looking into the case, a state attorney’s representative said this week.
[...]
The dog, Josie, started barking and scratching in her kennel. Pamela Maser thought she needed to go outside, so she put Khloe in a car seat and placed it on the couch. As soon as she opened the kennel, the dog ran past her and jumped onto Khloe.

Pamela Maser pried the dog's mouth open to get her off Khloe then put the dog outside. She called her son, a Clearwater police detective, as Khloe cried. She then called her husband, a retired Clearwater police deputy chief, and asked him to come home, the review says.

She saw that Khloe was bleeding but couldn't tell from where. She took her into the bathroom to wash her face. At that point, John Maser called his mother back. He and his wife were home within 15 minutes, the report says. John Maser called 911, said Kevin Hayslett, a lawyer representing Pamela Maser.
[...]

 

[MsFacetious]

15 minutes.
If you've ever had an injured baby you know that each minute feels like an eternity. They are in pain, there is blood, you want to fix it right this second but you know that you can't.

It's absolutely horrific. Even when it's not anything life threatening. Just a finger slammed in a door or hitting their head... seeing them in pain and not being able to fix it is awful.

If there is so much blood that you can't tell where it's coming from, you call 911. Yes head wounds can bleed a lot but this was a baby who didn't have a lot of blood to LOSE!

15 excruciatingly long, painful minutes for baby Khloe. I am so sorry baby girl. I hope that you get justice and charges are filed.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ta...Clearwater-7-month-old_172623244?template=amp

Wanted to see the dog, and found a good pic. She was a mutt, pure and simple. If she has pit in her, it is one of the 57 breeds in her Heinz pedigree. Sad that two lives were lost due to owner’s negligence.

That delay in calling 911 is inexcusable! It’s one thing to panic and freeze, but to call several family members and not 911 is shady as hell. At the very least, she should’ve been en route to the ER with the baby for the bite.

 

[MediocreJelly]

I'm in the UK where Pits are banned, I probably wouldn't recognise Pit in this animal if asked as I never see them, but I do think dog experts at a shelter possibly did.

Regardless - the foster parents knew and delayed. Unconscionable in my book. It seems like such an avoidable tragedy, who knows what danger she was in with her birth mother, but the professionals involved must feel terrible

 

[Catmommy]

The dog does appear to be a pit mix with some type of hound or retriever but I've studied dog breeds all of my life. More important would be the results of aggression testing for ANY dog adopted out from that shelter no matter what breed mix they pin on it. No dog that bites should ever be adopted out especially to families.

 

[SeesSeas]

State Attorney review seems to be taking a LONG time.

DCF report says call to 911 delayed in fatal foster baby mauling case
Updated: Nov 14, 2018 07:07 PM EST
The Pinellas State Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the Clearwater police investigation of the fatal mauling before deciding whether any criminal charges are warranted.

Mother wants justice for baby killed by dog while in foster care
UPDATED: OCT 12 2018 07:34PM EDT
He tells us they plan to turn everything over to the State Attorney's Office to determine if criminal child abuse or neglect charges are warranted.

"The fact that I’m gathering evidence that I’m taking to the State Attorney's Office that could potentially result in a criminal charge demonstrates that no one’s getting any preferential treatment,” Slaughter said.

 

[GarAndTeed]

The dog, Josie, started barking and scratching in her kennel. Pamela Maser thought she needed to go outside, so she put Khloe in a car seat and placed it on the couch. As soon as she opened the kennel, the dog ran past her and jumped onto Khloe.

Why the he77 did she let the dog out when the baby was right there and totally unprotected??? The dog's wound up- what was she thinking? Sheer stupidity-- SMH.

 

[SeesSeas]

Waiting for an update on whether there will be criminal charges against a member of the Maser family.
Meanwhile. . . it's fortunate that a child wasn't impacted in this dog incident last night:
Polk Deputy Severely Injured, Forced to Shoot Other Deputy's K-9
PUBLISHED 4:22 PM EST Jan. 29, 2019
POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Polk County sheriff’s deputy is recovering after being mauled by another deputy’s K-9 and being forced to shoot the dog.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

No criminal charges in Clearwater death of foster baby mauled by dog
The woman caring for the child had called her husband and son, both Clearwater police, rather than 911.
January 31, 2019
CLEARWATER — The foster grandmother of a baby fatally attacked by the family dog last October in Clearwater will not face criminal charges.

Authorities were investigating whether criminal negligence contributed to the death of 7-month-old Khloe Williams while Pamela Maser was babysitting the infant. After the attack, Pamela Maser called her son and her husband rather than 911.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office decided this month not to pursue a charge of aggravated neglect of a child against Maser.

“There must be a willful, wanton disregard for what’s going on, and you simply don’t find that here,” State Attorney Bernie McCabe said in an interview.
[...]
The Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner’s Office also released Khloe’s autopsy report this week. The report concluded that she had bleeding in the brain as well as sharp-force wounds, scratches and bruises all over her body. Her death, ruled an accident, was attributed to blunt and sharp injuries.
[...]
Pamela Maser’s delay in calling 911 gave State Attorney McCabe pause, he said.

She said in an interview with detectives that she didn’t initially realize the extent of the child’s injuries, according to Clearwater police documents released this week.
[...]
The first phone call to her son was at 1:50 p.m. He and his wife left the theater a minute later, according to surveillance video noted in the Clearwater police reports. They arrived home soon after 2 p.m. to a situation more dire than they expected. Pamela Maser — "white as a ghost,” Jonathan told detectives — told her son and daughter-in-law she thought Khloe had died.

The child had grown cool and quiet in her arms.
[...]

 

[Catmommy]

Okay, I don't know how I really feel about this yet but it about made me puke, literally. That poor poor baby.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Not understanding how she didn’t realize it was dire IF SHE THOUGHT THE CHILD WAS DEAD!!!! This world has gone mad...

 

[MsFacetious]

A medical examiner told prosecutors that she died from asphyxiation after blood and other fluids pooled her lungs, according to a State Attorney's Office internal memo.

-----------------------------------------

About 1:45 p.m. Oct. 5, a caseworker dropped Khloe off at Pamela Maser’s house at 1125 Fairwood Ave.

------------------------------------------

The first phone call to her son was at 1:50 p.m.

--------------------------------------------

The child had grown cool and quiet in her arms.

Jonathan Maser called 911 at 2:08 p.m. His wife performed CPR while they waited for help. Paramedics arrived about eight minutes later.

No criminal charges in Clearwater death of foster baby mauled by dog


Khloe was dead within 30 MINUTES of being dropped off.
She DROWNED in her own blood in her lungs!
That is a horrific way to die.
Khloe suffered for 18 minutes before finally dying.
This is horrific, legally I see why they aren't charging her.
As a mother.... I can't be that logical. That poor baby.

 

[MsFacetious]

Another baby girl narrowly avoided the same fate because there was a baby/pet gate up that gave Grandma just enough time to snatch her away. This was a golden retriever.

The injuries on her are not graphic but there are other VERY graphic images of another dog attack on the right side and below the article, just FYI.

Horrifying moment devil dog mauled toddler after she stroked it through baby gate