Family Dogs Kill 3 Mo Baby: Different Version Of All-too-common Story

[sandgrubber]

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/12/10/police-investigate-babys-death.html

A baby girl was killed by the family dogs yesterday morning while her father slept on the couch in their West Side condo, Columbus police said.

Mia Gibson, who would have turned 3 months old this week, was pronounced dead at Nationwide Children’s Hospital at 7:45 a.m., after she was taken there from her home at 1467 Lake Shore Dr. Apt. C, police records show.

Mia was on the couch with her father, who was asleep, when she apparently fell from the couch and the dogs caused injuries that led to her death, said Sgt. Steven Little, of the first-shift homicide squad.

Little said the dogs — both Shiba Inus — didn’t attack the baby, but rather appeared to be playing roughly with her.

Little said it appears as if the death was caused by the dogs, although the baby had no major trauma visible. She did have several small puncture wounds on her body, he said. The Franklin County coroner will conduct an autopsy to determine what caused Mia’s death.

“It looks like the dogs were probably playing with the baby, thinking she was a toy,” Little said.

The dogs have been taken by animal control, Little said. Shiba Inus are a Japanese hunting dog and range in size from 17 to 23 pounds.

Mia’s mother, Sabrena L. Gibson, 34, was in her bedroom when one of the dogs at the bedroom door woke her, Little said. She went into the living room and found her daughter injured. Mia’s father, Chris Kusumi, 33, told detectives he had slept through it all.

Little said detectives spoke to both parents and will not charge them. The case will be forwarded to the Franklin County prosecutor’s office to further decide whether there should be charges.

“It’s just an unfortunate situation, and it’s a sad situation for the family,” Little said.

[Christina]

Sounds like the baby may have been unconcious when she hit the floor, or before.

If the dogs had killed her or she fell & was hurt she would have made a hell of a noise crying & screaming, one would assume.

As neither the father or mother heard her & even in another room the mother would have been tuned in to the slightest whimper it may be the dogs were trying to move her not maul or attack her.

I hope so. All too sad & horrible.

More media hype & shock tactics before thorough investigation is completed.

[cavNrott]

It sounds very strange to me. I don't believe a word of the father's story.

[tdierikx]

It's highly possible that the baby suffocated before it fell off the couch...

T.

[Christina]

It's highly possible that the baby suffocated before it fell off the couch...

T.

Yes that is what I was wondering too.

[Sandra777]

Sounds unlikely to me but that's OK there's some vicious Japanese hunting dogs to take the blame.

RIP Mia

[tdierikx]

Dogs may be put down anyway - whether the baby was deceased before they played with her or not...

Such a tragedy all around.

T.

[Marion 01]

The whole thing sounds sus to me. I hope the autopsy discovers the real truth. Shame that these situations that the dogs suffer for something that they may not have done. Would be so nice for once to hear the dogs side of the story, unfortunately that will never happen.

[fluff1234]

very strange. I do agree, the baby would of screamed when it hit the floor and awoke or alerted somebody?

If the dogs were 'playing' ith her, she would of screamed even more!

[trinabean]

How tragic.

Hopefully the autopsy will shed some light on the cause of death.

[Little Gifts]

I used to have to do child death reports here in QLD to assess whether there were any child protection issues that may have led to a child's death, particularly if there are other children in the household. This was for all children who died in our geographical zone, not just the ones already known to CP services. The number of babies who died from sleeping with adults would shock you and it was more likely to happen when they were sleeping on the lounge together, followed by the floor and then a bed. Never saw one where mum and baby were in a recliner type chair sleeping after a feed though. Sometimes more than one child would be asleep with the adult but it was always the baby that succumbed. Babies aren't like our dogs or even toddlers, who can wiggle out of the way if they are getting a bit squashed while we snooze deeply.

Very sad for all concerned.

[Loving my Oldies]

Such a ghastly tragedy. Not one of us was there so we don't know. There are any number of scenarios. The parents of a 3 month old baby are probably a bit sleep deprived and when they do get the chance to sleep I imagine they sleep very very deeply.

However, it is all supposition on our part.

Poor little baby, Mia, and those whose lives are changed forever.

[Yonjuro]

Such a ghastly tragedy. Not one of us was there so we don't know. There are any number of scenarios. The parents of a 3 month old baby are probably a bit sleep deprived and when they do get the chance to sleep I imagine they sleep very very deeply.

However, it is all supposition on our part.

Poor little baby, Mia, and those whose lives are changed forever.

Well said DD.

[lillypilly]

A very sad story.

Little Mia's autopsy showed she died from internal injuries caused by dog bites.

xx LP xx

The following taken from

My link

Autopsy shows baby died from dog-bite wounds

An autopsy yesterday confirmed that dog bites caused the death of a baby at her West Side home on Tuesday.

Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak said that Mia Gibson, who would have been 3 months old today, died from internal injuries caused by dog bites.

Mia’s mother, Sabrena L. Gibson, called 911 shortly before 7 a.m. after finding her daughter on the floor next to the living-room couch where the baby’s father was sleeping, Columbus police said. The family lives on Lake Shore Drive.

“My husband fell asleep and my baby fell onto the ground, and she’s just a preemie,” she told the dispatcher, over what sounded like a baby’s cry. “Oh, sweetheart. Oh, my sweet baby.”

Mia died about 7:45 a.m. at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Sgt. Steven Little of the first-shift homicide squad said the dogs, two Shiba Inus, didn’t seem to have attacked the baby but were playing roughly with her. The dogs were being held by Franklin County animal control at the request of police.

Detectives spoke with Gibson and the infant’s father, Chris Kusumi. The case will be forwarded to the Franklin County prosecutor’s office to decide whether charges would be filed.

[melzawelza]

So interesting (and infuriating) to see the difference in reporting when the breed isn't a typical media sensationalized breed.

RIP little one.

[GardenGnome]

Such an awful thing to have happened. So sad for all involved

[persephone]

Poor little angel - she was not meant to be here -

poor dogs, and what a horrible thing for the parents .

[cannibalgoldfish]

I have two shibas and over the years they have killed a few birds and mice here. Never a mark on the bodies