Pit Bull Kills Child

Another group of California residents says their neighborhood is held hostage by Pit Bull Dogs and this time a small child was killed.

A two-year-old girl was mauled to death by a Pit Bull Dog at a baby sitter's home in Good Hope, California in Riverside County near Parris, California.

A Riverside Sheriff's Deputy told reporters that two small children were playing with the dog in the front yard when the Pit Bull attacked the small girl. A Riverside County Sheriff's spokeswoman said the other child, a small boy, tried to kick the dog to make it release the little girl but was not successful. He then ran into the house to get the two adults to help him.
Residents told TV news reporters that there was a pack of dogs including some Pit Bulls that roamed the Good Hope desert neighborhood. They said the Pit Bulls were let out early each morning. One man said they had called animal control but nothing was ever done. Deputies said the Pit Bull dog that mauled the little girl was living at the house of the baby sitter. The animal control officers would not let the reporters see or take pictures of the Pit Bull dog. Apparently they were trying to protect the dog's identity. The dead girl was named as soon as her parents were notified.
This is the same type of problem the residents of East LA had when they called Los Angeles City Animal Control, no action. These neighbors said the Pit Bulls held the neighborhood hostage, and had attacked some children and Senior Citizens. They claimed the owner threaten to turn his two Pit Bull dogs on their children if they went to an LA City hearing on the matter. These two Pit Bull dogs were housed directly across the street from a large elementary school.

Filed June 2003


Editor's Note: The following is a letter I recieved from the dead girl's grandmother. She said she wanted to set the record straight.

My name is Linda Collinsworth, I am contacting you regarding the article you wrote on my granddaughter Somer Clugston. She was mauled to death by a Pit Bull in Good Hope, near Perris California on 06/20/03.

I learned from authorities the real truth that had happened that morning. It was far worse then the media had put it. The baby sitter left Somer in front of the television while she ran errand's. No one else in the house was awake. She did not tell anyone she was leaving, and was gone almost three hours, she left the house around 7:15 am. Sometime before 9:50 am that morning her 11 year old son was making breakfast, when he looked out the window and noticed their Pit Bull playing with what he believed was a doll. It wasn't until later when he went to take a diaper out to the trash that he noticed it was Somer laying there. He tried kicking the dog off of her, then he ran in the house to wake up his father. The boys father carried her in the house, but he was too devastated to do CPR. It was a little while later that the authorities received the call.

She laid out there with the dog for at least 45 minutes or even longer, the authorities told us it was a slow death, because the dog did not hit any of her vital organs. She died from several traumatic wounds. The dog mauled the back of her head, neck and ears off.

As terrible as it was, It was even more devastating to learn the real truth. It hurts to know she had no one out there to help her. She was my precious baby girl. Everybody that knew her agreed that she had a kind, sweet sparkle to her. She made such an impact on everybody's life, the two short years she was with us. Somer's father was reassured that the dogs were constantly locked up. The baby sitter is now facing criminal charges. This is not enough, I have to get something done about this. Animal control officers reported to the media that they did not receive any former complaints, but the detective interviewed several neighbors who said the dog had previously bitten two other children and a horse. The baby sitter openly admitted to detectives that she knew about the past complaints. I had an interview with Inside Edition, before I found out the real truth. Her friends keep telling the media false stories regarding the dog, such as animal control officers euthanized the wrong dog. That is false. They were more concerned about the dog than what had happened to somer. I am pursuing media coverage and other areas of information in order to get some type of law passed banning Pit Bulls. So at least in the state of California no other child will ever have to suffer this horrible tragedy ever again. I refuse to let Somer die in vain. --- Linda, Somerclugston@AOL.com

UPDATE: October 2003. The woman who was the baby-sitter and left the house when little Somer was attacked by the pit bull has pleaded to manslaughter.

Editor's Note: You can read about East LA residents fighting back against Pit Bull Dogs and Pit Bull Dog Fighting in Texas in the Investigation Section. Also there is an article defending Pit Bulls on the Speak Out Page.