A Texas woman left to babysit a one-year-old boy has been arrested after she abandoned the child and a teenager – leaving them vulnerable to a savage dog attack.
Heather Rodriguez, 36, was charged Monday with one count of injury to a child with serious bodily injury by omission, with more charges anticipated, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Her charges await approval from the Bexar County District Attorney.
The incident occurred when Rodriguez – who was in charge of looking after the one-year-old boy – abandoned both baby and teen in the house with four dangerous dogs. It’s unclear why she left or where she went.
While she was gone, the 13-year-old and baby were in a room and the aggressive dogs, which “were known to cause damage,” forced their way through a bedroom door, police said.
The door was already battered by previous efforts from the dogs to break through, police said.
When the dogs broke through the door, a savage attack ensued. One of the dogs brutally “began biting the baby.” That is when the teen stepped in trying to save the infant and started a “tug of war” with the dogs.
Then, more dogs entered to join in on the attack. In a desperate attempt to flee the ravaging animals, the 13-year-old tried to fight them off before running into an adjacent bathroom.
But the dogs got through again and attacked the child and the teen. With no other choice the teen went to call 911, leaving the child to be attacked further, police said.
When deputies arrived, they found both baby and teen “covered in blood” in the bedroom.
First-aid was administered and the baby was taken to the hospital with “severe head injuries and a damaged throat and airway” making it difficult for him to breathe. He remains in a critical condition as of Monday.
The young boy’s biological parents are with him in the hospital – they said they would not have left their child with Rodriguez if they had known the dogs were problematic, police said.
The girl – who was praised as a “hero” by police – was treated for non-life-threatening injuries though police believe the incident is likely to cause psychological damage.
Sheriff Javier Salazar said: “I’ve actually seen some pictures of the baby gleaned from the body-camera footage from our deputies – it’s heartbreaking to see anybody in that condition even more so a 1-year-old baby.”
Rodriguez’ dogs were previously found to be “running free of restraint” earlier this year after reports of “loose dogs” that prevented a person from leaving their car.
Salazar said in a press conference on Monday: “The 13-year-old is absolutely, I’m considering her a hero – I think that her actions led to that baby not being mauled even more seriously or even killed as a result of these savage dog attacks.”
He added that he was “super proud of her.”
Child Protective Services is now handling the welfare of the two children and animal control will determine the fate of the unruly dogs.
Salazar shared that the suspect “seemed to be more concerned with what was going on with those dogs” than her careless actions that almost caused a fatal tragedy.
