Mother of 4-year-old attacked by dogs speaks out
OAK CLIFF, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The mother of a 4-year-old who died after being attacked by a friend's dogs on Saturday is speaking out.
The mother of 4-year-old Lea Freeman told CBS 11 her daughter should still be alive. She said her daughter was excited to start kindergarten and instead of planning for school, she's now planning her daughter's funeral.
"She's likes to do gymnastics, she likes to play, she's a playful little girl," Tiara Freeman, Lea's mother said.
As Freeman remembers the joy her 4-year-old daughter Lea brought to her life, she's also processing her loss.
"She plays with her 1-year-old sister everyday, "Freeman said. "I just, it's tragic, it's scary to lose a daughter."
Freeman said she and her children were staying with a friend who has three pit bulls. Freeman said she stepped out, leaving the friend to watch her kids.
"She was the babysitter," Freeman said. "And she was just out here talking for like 20 minutes and didn't even hear my baby in there fighting for her life."
Even neighbors said the sitter left the kids in the house alone.
"She was never supposed to be left alone in that house with those pit bulls," neighbor Michael Pennington said.
So when Freeman got home, she was shocked to see what was going on.
"I seen my daughter laying on the floor, just blooded out, blood everywhere and all I could do was pick her up and just cry and take her somewhere to the car and have somebody call an ambulance," Freeman said.
The person who called, lived right across the street from where she was staying.
"I heard her yelling 'get off of her, get off of her' but I thought it was the dog because they got one of the dogs pregnant, but it was the baby," neighbor Michael Pennington said.
Pennington said he'll never forget what he saw.
"Break down and cry, that's all I could do," Pennington said. "She was a pretty little girl."
Freeman said she was also attacked by the dogs.
"They rushed and attacked me right when I picked my own child up," Freeman said.
It's a tragedy this mother now has to live with.
"She was a blessing, she was a sweet girl," Freeman said. "I don't know why this happened."
Neighbors told CBS 11 there's been problems with the dogs before. Monday afternoon, Dallas Animal Services told CBS 11 they have taken all three dogs from the home.
