Baby killed by dogs identified

The 4-month-old girl who was fatally mauled last week by two pit bulls that were family pets was identified by the Clark County coroner's office as Cendi Kia Carey.

Coroner's records show Cendi, born May 8, died of severe blunt force trauma from dog bites to her head. According to a source who knows the family, the mother of the child is Amber Krueger. The father has not been identified.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ronald Bloxham said North Las Vegas Police have not contacted his office about potential prosecution in the incident.

"We have not received any case right now," Bloxham said. "It's up to the law enforcement agency to investigate and if they believe charges are appropriate then they will submit them to the district attorney's office for review and prosecution."

When the dog attack took place, a grandmother was watching the baby whose parents were at work.

Police said the dogs were in the backyard of the home, near Cheyenne Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, before the attack.

The dogs managed to enter the home, most likely by bursting through a screen door, and began attacking the baby in a stroller, police said.

North Las Vegas Police could not be reached for comment on whether charges would be brought against anyone in the case.

A woman at the home where the attack took place declined to comment Monday evening.

The grandmother suffered non-life threatening injuries that North Las Vegas Police spokesman Mark Hoyt said included bites to the arms and hands.

Police said the grandmother attempted to shield Cendi from the family's dogs.

She took the baby and tried to escape to a different room in the house.

But the dogs forced their way into the room, police said.

When officers arrived, they found the two dogs with blood on their fur acting aggressively toward them.

Police shot and killed the dogs. The baby's body was on a bedroom floor.

"This is about as severe an attack as I've seen in my 18 years in North Las Vegas," Animal Control officer Dale Smock said last week.

The attack was so brutal that officers and medical personnel who responded are being offered counseling, police said.

Last week's dog attack was one of many in recent memory in the valley.

In June, a 2-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after a neighbor's boxer bit him on his face and neck in the northwest valley.

In April, two children, ages 4 and 5, were hospitalized after being attacked by a neighbor's boxer and a pit bull near Vegas Valley and McLeod drives.

North Las Vegas has investigated 192 dog attacks since the beginning of last year, including 73 attacks from pit bulls, Smock said.

Reporters Scott Wyland and Maggie Lillis contributed to this report. Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.