A 2-year-old girl died after she was attacked by a pair of pit bulls Saturday afternoon in South Chicago, officials said.
Jah’niyah White was pronounced dead at 3:40 p.m. at Jackson Park Hospital after police responded to a call of an unresponsive 2-year-old in the 3300 block of East 91st Street, police said.
Her death was ruled a homicide.
An autopsy Sunday revealed that White died from multiple injuries sustained in a dog attack and that neglect was a contributing factor in her death, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The victim's mother, Kashairah Gardner, spoke to NBC 5 after scraping away snow from the scene of the attack so she could place a teddy bear in memory of her daughter.
"I am going to stay strong, because my baby, she hates to see my cry," Gardner said. "She tells me, 'Mommy don't cry, so I am going to stay strong for her."
The dogs have been seized by animal control, and DCFS officials have also launched an investigation.
The victim's family says the toddler was in the care of her grandfather when the attack happened.
"I don't know if Janiah was hurt before the dogs attacked her. We don't know. We just want the person to not be walking around on these streets and live freely while my baby is sitting somewhere cold," the girl's grandmother, Britt Williams-Nelson, said.
The family plans to start a foundation or organize a toy drive in the girl's memory.
Further details surrounding the attack and the girl’s death were not immediately available.
