Family mourns death of boy in pit bull attack

It was a great day to play outside, and that's what Tara Haith Coates says her happy little 4-year-old grandson – Kasii Haith – was doing Wednesday afternoon at the home of a family friend west of Felton.

One minute, Kasii was chasing the three dogs he had known for most of his young life. The next, they were chasing him. They went back and forth like that for a while – Kasii chasing the dogs, and the dogs chasing him.

The game went terribly wrong, though, when Kasii's mother, Kyiesha, left the yard to make a quick trip to the bathroom. She told her boy she would be right back.

What she saw next from the window was an indescribable horror.

Her Kasii was in the jaws of those dogs.

And though she fought them with all her might and two HVAC repair men who were working at the house beat the dogs with PVC pipe – Kasii could not be saved.

Thursday, friends and family mourned the boy at the Camden home where he lived with his mother and great-grandmother.

They embraced, wept, prayed.

They ached with a pain no jaws could inflict.

With her husband Jeff at her side, Coates wept as she shared her daughter's account of the attack, which occurred around 4 p.m. in the 900 block of Edwardsville Road.

"She fought for him," Coates said. "Just know that my daughter fought for her son. She loved him and he was so excited about having a baby brother and sister."

Kyiesha Haith, 24, is expecting twins in July. She remained in Kent General Hospital Thursday, recovering from bite wounds her mother said required 20 stitches.

Running loose

The dogs – identified as pit bulls by authorities – were euthanized Thursday.

Their remains will be tested for rabies at the state Division of Public Health's laboratory.

Capt. Sherri Warburton, director of animal control for Delaware Animal Control and Care at the First State Animal Center and SPCA, said the dogs were not restrained, and had not been vaccinated, spayed or neutered.

In Kent County, dogs must be on a leash or responsive to voice commands, Warburton said.

But these dogs had been on the prowl Tuesday, according to Gary Bodine, who lives about a 10th of a mile down Edwardsville Road.

Bodine said he was at a relative's house across the street when the dogs ran onto the front porch of that home. They then crossed Edwardsville Road and entered the property of another Bodine relative. Bodine said he jumped into his golf cart to warn the residents there and to be sure his 4-year-old niece, Addy, was safe.

He tried to shoo the dogs away, but they stared at him, undaunted, then trotted around the property "like they were hunting," he said, into the woods and back toward their home.

"I know it's against the law, but I'd like to have shot 'em," he said. "If I did, that boy would still be alive. They were just so evil-looking."

Bodine said the dogs belonged to a new neighbor, who had moved into the rental home recently. He said he had not encountered the dogs before Tuesday, but had seen the doghouse on the property.

Second call of day

Animal control officers went to the Edwardsville home Wednesday morning, responding to a complaint, Warburton said, but no one was home and there was no sign of the dogs.

Later that day, Staff Sgt. David Hulse was the first animal control officer on the scene – this time, a scene of horrific loss.

Hulse said the dogs' owner had them in the garage by then, and they showed no aggression toward him or others. The owner surrendered the dogs to be euthanized, he said.

"She said she would never be able to trust the dogs again," he said.

Warburton said no charges have been filed, but the investigation by her officers and Delaware State Police continues.

Wednesday, a "dangerous dogs" bill, which clarifies when an animal control constable or dog warden can impound a dog that is suspect of being dangerous or potentially dangerous, was reported out of the House of Representatives' Housing and Community Affairs Committee.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dennis E. Williams, now awaits action on the House floor.

Hulse said there were no records of previous problems with the dogs – a 5-year-old female and two of her older offspring, a boy and a girl, both about a year old. The older female had given birth to a new litter of puppies about eight weeks ago, Hulse said.

Hulse and Warburton said getting animals spayed and neutered can "calm" them and reduce aggressive behavior. These animals had not been spayed or neutered.

Both said pit bulls are powerful animals, but they are not the only ones that bite.

Warburton said it was a German shepherd that attacked postal worker Robert Rochester in Stanton in 2012.

Rochester, 55 of New Castle, died about a week after the attack.

Hulse said he has a pit bull, and his two children, 16 and 8, know that although the dog has a wonderful temperament, he is still a dog and they must be careful around him.

"He's a dog," Hulse said. "He has teeth. You just never know."

In 2013, Warburton said the state got 1,271 reports of dogs biting humans.

She estimated 70 percent of all animal bite reports involve children.

"You never leave a child unattended with an animal," said Lisa Strong Chase of First State Animal Center.

Coping with tragedy

Thursday, Tara Haith Coates remembered her little grandson as a fun, funny, witty boy.

She wept as she hugged a framed picture of Kasii to her chest.

He was supposed to start kindergarten in the fall.

At one point, Elder Constance Beach of Little Mt. Olive Pentecostal Church in Smyrna, called mourners inside the home.

"We have prayer coming," she said.

Beach prayed, and didn't try to explain anything away.

"Words don't mean too much now," she said in her prayer. "Give them a strength.... God is going to get you through this – even this. We don't understand, understand, understand. But even in all this agony, he is still God."

Coates said the comfort of friends and family and co-workers has been crucial to all who are grieving.

But her daughter is distraught.

"People have been saying awful things," she said. "All I want is respect. Just understand. She was a hell of a mother."

She tried to comfort her daughter with that fact.

"I told her, 'you were there when he was born, and you were there when he took his last breath,' Coates said. "We're just trying to get through it."

Staff writers robin brown and Jon Offredo contributed to this article.

Contact Beth Miller

at (302) 324-2784 or bmiller@delawareonline.com.

Dog bite reports in Delaware, 2013

260

Kent County

686

New Castle County

325

Sussex County

1,271

Total

–Source: Delaware Animal Care and Control