TERRY – Authorities said the dog that killed a 6-year old girl last month may have belonged to her cousin. Police said Anastasia Bingham was attacked by a pit bull in front of her home, on Feb. 12, after she had gone outside to play in the snow.
A family member found Anastasia unresponsive, lying in the snow and called 911. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The dog was found later and taken to the Animal Rescue League in Hinds County where it remains in quarantine. A family member told police at the time of the attack that the dog was kept with a group of pit bulls “in a patch of woods” behind a nearby house.
Anastasia’s grandfather told WLBT the dog belonged to a distant cousin.
“He is my cousin,” Willie Bingham told the station. “And he could face charges. And that’s all we’re trying to do because that’s my granddaughter and I love my granddaughter. He is my cousin, but it don’t make no difference for her, she’s dead.”
Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said the dog’s owner, who has not been named, could face charges if it is determined that he “violated the law” and that “violation resulted in the death of the child.”
“Then we are certainly going to prosecute what we can,” McMillin told WLBT.
Several years ago, Hinds County strengthened its vicious dog ordinance making it illegal for felons to own such animals, and by requiring such animals be confined at all times. Reportedly, the dog that killed Anastasia was roaming the neighborhood.
Hinds County authorities are researching the law in this case.
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