LAFAYETTE — A 38-year-old Lafayette woman faces neglect charges after a family dog attacked and killed her baby boy.
Jennifer Connell was arrested and charged this week with three counts of felony neglect, according to the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor and Lafayette police.
The incident happened in January at Connell's home on Greenbrush Street. According to a probable cause affidavit from the prosecutor, a police officer arrived at the home to find a pit bull terrier mix named "Maisie" standing over one-month-old Julian Connell who had been sleeping in his mother's bedroom.
Julian had been attacked, suffering fatal neck and head injuries, according to the report. The police officer was forced to shoot the dog to get it off the baby.
A second officer who worked on the investigation described a "terrible odor" and "piles of dog feces all over the residence," where Connell lived with he baby and an older child. "Dead and decaying mice throughout the residence and roaches on the furniture," were observed. Trash was scattered all over the home.
Jennifer Connell said she knew Maisie was an aggressive dog and had gone after the baby before. She said she was trying to find another home for the dog at the time Julian was killed.
A trial date for Connell has not been set, according to Tippecanoe County court records.
