Texas babysitter jailed after 1-year-old boy in her care mauled to death by pit bulls

Babysitter Heather Rodriguez, 36, was supposed to be caring for Jiryiah Johnson at her home in Converse, TX but she left the baby alone with her 13-year-old daughter. One of the dogs shoved its way into the bedroom and attacked the child, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told the outlet. The first dog was joined by two other pit bulls who bit and mauled the baby.

"The 13-year-old was able to maintain control of the baby, but at this point, it was being described to me as almost a tug-of-war for the baby between at least one of the dogs and the little girl,” Salazar said. Although the daughter was also bitten by one of the dogs, she managed to escape from the carnage and 911. She then went back to the bedroom to rescue the baby from the attack.

Though an ambulance soon arrived to transfer the boy to the local hospital, he later died of his injuries. The baby’s mother, Erika Castro, was devastated by the tragedy of losing her only child and could only wonder why the babysitter had left her baby alone with a teenager and three vicious dogs “I wish she’d had stayed like she said she would’ve, instead of going into work like she got called into work.”

Castro told a local media outlet that she knew the sitter owned the dogs but was assured they would be tied up and unable to go near her child. Rodriguez has been fined in the past for not keeping her dogs on a leash after a man was unable to exit his vehicle because the dogs were threatening to attack him.

The dogs have been detained at the Animal Care Services while Child Protective Services is also investigating. Rodriguez is also being detained at the Bexar County Jail after she was arrested. Her bail has been set at $100,000. She was originally charged with injury to a child with intent of causing serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony, according to a news release from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

The charges have escalated following Johnson’s death, and Rodriguez now faces charges that include reckless bodily injury to a child and child endangerment causing bodily injury. A GoFundMe campaign can be found online to help Castro pay for the baby’s funeral and medical expenses.