Mia Derouen, a 4 year old Louisiana girl was killed by the family pit bull. This despite her mother’s frantic efforts to drag the dog away.
The girl suffered severe facial, body and head injuries from Tuesday night’s attack and would die despite being rushed to Terrebonne General Medical Center.
The mother who also suffered injuries still remains hospitalized.
Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis told the scene was horrific and that officers had to fire 13 shots into the ‘monster’ dog before the family pet stopped charging. The dog, Niko was said to weigh up to 130 pounds.
The child’s mother, Megan Touchet barricaded herself and her daughter in a bedroom, screaming for help and calling 911.
She handed her bleeding girl through a window to waiting paramedics, told Duplantis.
A gofundme.com page set up to receive donations for Mia’s funeral received more than $18,000 in four hours on Wednesday. As of late Thursday night it stands at $31, 350.
‘The only thing we can do at this time is offer prayers, bear our shoulders to lean on, and give forward to help alleviate the costly expenses of this unexpected tragedy,’ a note on the site says.
A second pit bull was in the Houma apartment, but did not attack. That dog was taken to a local animal shelter.
Niko was ‘running loose inside the apartment acting in a very vicious manner,’ Duplantis told the station.
It’s not clear if charges will be filed in the case, which is still being investigated. Investigators have yet to understand why the dog reacted the way it did.
‘There are some questions and rumors about the dog possibly being trained to fight, and what have you,‘ offered Duplantis. ‘The detectives have been investigating this. However, I am here to report there have been no signs of abuse.’
The vicious attack has once again brought into question whether pit bulls ought to be outlawed in domestic settings.
HALF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE KIDS SHOULD NOT THEY ARE TO IMMATURE AND SELFISH.
Large dogs live in apartments all the time. That dog was a show dog and it was exercised plenty, fed well, trained well on the leash and had lots of love. It was treated well and loved by its owners, yet it still turned on Mia, a child it knew very well and interacted with daily.
That dog which killed Mia was never coached or trained to fight. It turned on her.
The headline/title of this article is NOT completely accurate. The part about the dog being trained to fight needs to be removed. Take it off.
There was never any positive proof found, nor was there any other type of documentation released from the investigation that said Niko (the dog that killed Mia) was trained to fight. There were only RUMORS and the Houma Police Chief (Duplantis) said the investigation found no signs of abuse.
Mia has family members who want Mia’s memory honored and they want justice served for Mia. This poor family has had to put up with much rumor and speculation and the continued rumors are not helping the stalled investigation. The family of Mia Derouen shouldn’t have to see a headline with inaccuracies. Take the part about dog fighting OFF.
They are naturally violent, that’s why they’re bought to fight – it’s natural to them. It’s time they were banned.
The dogs themselves naturally aren’t violent, they’re pretty loveable clumsy goofs. The problem are the slime that coach these dogs into being charging angry bags of brainless teeth. Punish the trainer not the animal and those who can own them like civil human beings.
How stupid to live in an apartment with a large dog like that. What a waste of a precious little girl because of adult stupidity. rest in peace