Boy Mauled By Dog Died of 'Multiple Sharp and Blunt' Injuries: Medical Examiner

Updated, 11:50 p.m. Tuesday-- The Cook County Medical Examiner has determined that a 5-year-old boy killed by a dog Monday night on the South Side died of multiple sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and neck.

James Nevils III, whom family members called “Pudgy,” was pronounced dead atAdvocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn where he was taken after neighbors killed the dog during the alleged attack.

News media are identifying the breed of dog as a pit bull.

The young boy and his family were guests at the Gresham home in the 8900 block of South Carpenter Avenue where the dog lived, ABC 7 Chicago reported.

Around 9:30 p.m. Monday, residents told police they heard screaming and saw the dog with its jaws around the child’s neck.

Several neighbors ran to the boy’s aid and beat the dog with a chair, brick and pole but it would not let go of the child. The dog died of injuries before police arrived.

The owner of the dog was not home when the attack occurred. James was already en route to the hospital when the owner returned home and discovered that the dog was dead.

“All I heard was, ‘Why y’all let the dog out?’ Because he knew what kind of dog he had,” Lemar Lewis, 19, told ABC 7 Chicago. “So them letting the dog out, he knew what was possible to happen.”

Original story -- Horrified neighbors killed a dog that mauled a 5-year-old boy to death Monday night in the the South side Gresham neighborhood.

About 9:30 p.m. at the end of the three-day Memorial Day weekend, residents said they heard a woman screaming for help and saw a dog with its mouth around the child’s neck.

News media are identifying the breed of a dog as a pitbull.

“I hear someone yelling, ‘He has my baby! Somebody please help me!’ When I looked, I thought someone was fighting. When I looked closer, the dog had the child by the neck and shoulder,” Bianca White told ABC 7 News.

As neighbors rushed to scene, some began attacking the dog with a chair, bricks and a pole until they eventually killed it..

“We started hitting the dog with a brick, my brother grabbed a pole and kept hitting it until it died,” resident Marquis Lewis told NBC 5 News. “I wasn’t thinking about nothing but getting the dog off the baby.”

Police said the dog was dead by the time they arrived.

The boy was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with “traumatic injuries” and was later pronounced dead.

The Cook County Medical Examiner identified the boy as James W. Nevils, of the 8000-block of South Escabana Avenue.