The four-year-old girl who was tragically mauled to death in a dog attack yesterday evening has been named as Alice Stones. The youngster was attacked at around 5pm on Tuesday in the garden of her home in Milton Keynes.
Emergency services rushed to the property in Broadlands, Netherfield but little Alice was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, the Mirror reports. A neighbour said they heard the mother's chilling screaming after the horrific incident before police arrived at the house.
They revealed: "We heard desperate screams last night. I heard ‘she’s dead! She’s dead! It sounded like Louise shouting. They were piercing screams.
"They’ll stay with me forever. It was a nightmare. I’m heartbroken. They will haunt me. It’s horrendous. Alice goes to school with my children. It’s so upsetting.”
Nobody else was hurt as a result of the incident and the dog has been humanely destroyed. No arrests have been made in connection with the girl's death.
Superintendent Matt Bullivant said: “This is an absolutely tragic incident, in which we believe that a child has been killed after being attacked by a dog. Clearly, we are in the very early stages of an investigation, and it would be wrong and unhelpful to speculate as to the exact circumstances of this incident at this point.
“However, in order to ensure public safety, a decision was made earlier this evening to destroy the dog involved, and this has been done humanely. I understand how much of an impact this will have on the community and on the wider public, and people can expect to see a large police presence in the area this evening and beyond while our investigation continues.
I would like to reassure people that there is no reason to believe there is any danger to the wider public at this time. Anyone with concerns should feel free to approach our officers and ask questions, but I urge people not to speculate about the circumstances, especially on social media platforms.
“I also understand that this case is likely to attract attention from the media. With this in mind I would like to ask that the privacy of the family involved is respected at this very difficult time.
“It is impossible to imagine what they must be going through at the moment.”
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