Dad argued with neighbor about their fence days before their 3 pit bulls killed his daughter: Reports

‘He could have prevented this.’

The father of a 9-year-old Michigan girl reportedly argued with a neighbor about properly fencing his three pit bulls in his yard days before the dogs got loose and killed his daughter, according to reports.

Emma Hernandez’s aunt, Claudia Stapleton, told WDIV that the girl’s father, Armando Hernandez, confronted his neighbor about his three dogs “roaming about” but nothing was done. The dogs are believed to have slipped through the neighbor’s ramshackle fence and attacked Hernandez as she rode her bike behind her Detroit home on Monday.

Armando Herandez told WWJ that the neighbor, who hasn’t been publically identified, didn’t take proper care of his dogs. He also alleged that police were aware of how he treated his dogs before Monday’s deadly incident.

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“Last year, November 2017, the police came out and made a report about it but they didn’t follow up on it. The dogs stayed there loose, wild, and the guy didn’t feed them. The poor dogs, you know, I don’t blame them,” he told the news outlet.

Neighbors were said to have fought the dogs off the girl by throwing bricks at them—and even firing guns. Animal control seized the three dogs and they will likely be euthanized, according to reports.

Despite neighbors, relatives, and emergency crews’ efforts, Emma Hernandez was pronounced dead at the hospital.

While the dogs’ owner was arrested Monday night he hasn’t been charged with a crime. According to WWJ, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is expected to make a decision regarding criminal charges on Thursday.

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[Featured image: Emma Hernandez/GoFundMe]