Teen Girl Hailed as Hero for Risking Life to Save Tot Mauled Dead by Pit Bulls in ‘Tug of War’

A 13-year-old girl tried to save a one-year-old boy from a pit bull attack but failed to prevent his death.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, babysitter Heather Rodriguez, 36, left Jiryiah Johnson in the care of her teenage daughter along with three pit bulls in her Converse home. The dogs attacked the boy.

The teenager fought to protect the child, lifting him over her head, but a dog climbed up and snatched him from her hands, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

The attack, which reportedly spread across several rooms, left Jiryiah with critical injuries to his head, face, and neck. Medical staff rushed him to the hospital, but throat damage reportedly left him unable to breathe on his own. He died Monday night.

Police arrested Rodriguez on a felony charge of injury to a child by omission, with possible additional charges for her daughter’s involvement.

The other two dogs joined the attack as the teen babysitter ran around the house, trying to pull Jiryiah away from them, KSAT reports. She attempted to take him into the bathroom, but the dogs chased after them.

Realizing the danger, she reached for her phone to call for help. She then tried to lock herself and Jiryiah in a bedroom, but the dogs broke through the door.

“She made every effort possible, even lifting that baby over her head,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said. “But my understanding is the dog climbed onto something and was able to get the baby out of her hands.”

“It’s a heartbreaking scenario.”

Rodriguez returned home as deputies arrived and managed to get the dogs outside.

Jiryiah’s mother, Erika Castro, said she hadn’t yet come to terms with the loss of her only child.

“I’ve been shaking, I’ve been having panic attacks,” Castro told KENS 5. “I wish she’d had stayed like she said she would’ve, instead of going into work like she got called into work.”