Children killed by dog attacks in Henderson exactly 7 years apart

A 1-year-old girl from Ely died after being attacked by a Rottweiler in Henderson on Saturday, seven years to the day after a 1-year-old Henderson boy was fatally attacked by his family’s dog while celebrating his birthday.

Kyna Marie Pamela Deshane died Saturday at Henderson Hospital of multiple injuries due to a mauling, according to the Clark County coroner’s office. Her death was ruled an accident.

The mauling was reported about 7:50 a.m. at a home on the 100 block of Appian Way, near Horizon Drive and Interstate 11. When officers arrived, they found Kyna suffering from the injuries, according to the Henderson Police Department.

Police have said the 4-year-old Rottweiler, which was owned by a family friend, was euthanized at the owner’s request.

Seven years earlier, while celebrating his first birthday, Jeremiah Eskew-Shahan was killed by his family’s dog, a mastiff-Rhodesian Ridgeback mix named Onion.

After a day of celebrating on April 27, 2012, Jeremiah was exhausted.

Jeremiah’s grandmother had just given him a bottle and laid him down in the living room when he crawled over to Onion and — as he had done many times before — grabbed onto the 120-pound dog to help himself stand, his family told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the time.

Just then, Jeremiah’s grandmother leaned over to pick him up. Onion suddenly attacked, latching around the boy’s head and shaking him.

The attack lasted about 30 seconds. Jeremiah died of blunt force injuries to his head and neck due to a canine attack, the coroner’s office said.

Jeremiah was rushed to St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena campus, then flown to University Medical Center, where he died early April 28.

Afterward, the city of Henderson declared the dog vicious, and Jeremiah’s grandmother turned him over to be euthanized. But the Lexus Project, an animal-rights group based in New York, intervened in court before that could happen, saying Jeremiah’s grandmother had changed her mind and wanted to release the dog to the group.

A nearly two-year legal battle over Onion ensued, ending in January 2014 after Henderson officials turned the dog over to the Lexus Project.

Last October, a 58-year-old Las Vegas woman was mauled to death by a rescue dog days after she and her husband adopted it. She was home alone at the time of the attack and was dead when her husband came home from work. The dog was euthanized.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.