Harnett County 3-Year-Old Killed By Dog
Deputy Shoots Chained Dog
POSTED: 10:04 p.m. EST January 13, 2004
UPDATED: 12:47 p.m. EST January 14, 2004
BUNNLEVEL, N.C. -- Investigators in Harnett County believe a 3-year-old boy who was found dead in a neighbor's back yard Tuesday night was killed by the neighbor's dog.
Nathan HillThe sheriff's office said its initial investigation appears to indicate that Nathan Roy Hill, of Bunnlevel, wandered into a neighbor's yard and into the reach of a pit bull mixed breed that was chained. The dog attacked the boy, killing him.
The boy's body was found just before 6:30 p.m. on Doris Drive in the Anderson Creek community.
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.
A second dog was in an above ground cage in the area, but does not appear to have been involved in the incident, according to the sheriff's office.
Veronica Copley, the owner of the dogs, helped search for the boy. She told WRAL 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 them. A beware of 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 on his way home Tuesday night, Sherriff Larry Rollins said. The boy's father lives in Texas.
Rollins said Nathan had at least two bite marks. 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.
As deputies continue their investigation, they are trying to determine whether neglect charges should be filed against Gambill for leaving her son unsupervised.
North Carolina ranks seventh nationwide in fatal dog attacks with 17 cases documented between 1965 and 2001.
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.
