THE NEWBORN KILLED BY DOG
FIRST PICTURE OF 12-DAY-OLD BOY AND HIS MOTHER
A DOTING mum gazes adoringly at her newborn son just days before he was mauled to death by one of the family’s pet dogs.
Baby Elon was only 12 days old when he was attacked in his Moses basket by Chow Chow-cross ‘Teddy’ in Doncaster.
Parents Abigail Ellis, 27, and her fiancé Stephen Joynes, 35, were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter before being released on bail.
The tragedy happened after the mother-of-four posted a picture on Facebook of Elon snuggled up on her chest with his tiny hands clasped together. She wrote: ‘Our gorgeous baby boy. Love him to bits.’
A neighbour said: ‘Abi was a great
mum, They never had much money but those kids never went without. Her older children (Elon’s mum reportedly had three children from a previous relationship) were so well behaved.’
As neighbours posted floral tributes outside the family home, a man who gave his name as Keith and said he was Elon’s uncle claimed the dog attacked the infant after jumping out of a pen. ‘The dog wasn’t kept in the house. He was in a pen in the garden,’ he said. ‘He was such a big, soft fluffy dog. He was like a teddy bear. His name was even Teddy. You just wouldn’t expect him to do anything like that.’ Neighbours said that Ms Ellis had struggled to come to terms with the loss of her previous partner from sepsis 18 months ago but was ‘overjoyed’ to be expecting a baby with her new boyfriend.
South Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the family home at 3.30pm on Sunday. A spokesperson said: ‘A 12-day-old baby boy had been bitten by a dog and suffered serious injuries. The child was taken to hospital but sadly died a short time later. The dog has been removed.’