Toddler Dies In Joliet After Pit Bull Attack, Dog Confiscated

JOLIET, IL — A 17-month-old girl from Aurora died early Sunday morning following a dog attack at a Joliet Fourth of July house party in the 1800 block of Cumberland Drive. According to the Joliet Fire Department, Marley Wilander was taken by ambulance to AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center after being bitten several times by a pit bull mix, and she died around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. Marley had been put upstairs in a playpen prior to the dog attack at the house in Joliet's far west side Cumberland Subdivision, police said.

The Joliet dog involved in the deadly attack will be euthanized later today and tested for rabies, Will County Health Department spokesman Steve Brandy told Joliet Patch at 2:45 p.m. Monday. Joliet Patch's editor visited the house on Monday afternoon but the property owners did not answer their door. The homeowners have a sticker on top of their front door that reads, "BEWARE OF DOG."

According to the Joliet Police Department, the owners of the house on Cumberland Drive had put their two pit bull mixed-breed dogs in their basement during their 4th of July house party. Later that night, the parents of Marley, who were guests at the party, put their little girl down to take a nap in an upstairs bedroom, police said.

"At sometime during the night, the dogs got out of the basement," Joliet police announced on Monday. "The homeowner went upstairs to investigate a noise and located one of the dogs actively biting the toddler. The homeowner was able to separate the dog from the toddler and called 911 where Joliet Police and Fire responded. The dog was turned over to the Joliet Township Animal Control."

The child's family was visiting Joliet during the holiday weekend.

The Will County Coroner's Office of Patrick O'Neil announced Monday afternoon that Marley sustained multiple injuries due to being wounded by a dog.

Brandy said the second dog was not seized by authorities. That one is an older dog and there is no reason to believe the older dog was involved in the upstairs bedroom attack, he indicated.

Joliet Fire Chief Greg Blaskey told Patch that firefighter/paramedics were called to the house on Cumberland Drive around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. When emergency crews arrived, the child's father was holding the girl, who had been attacked in the house by the dog, Blaskey said. The girl was unresponsive, but she had a pulse at the time of the ambulance transport, he indicated.

The Joliet Police Department indicated Marley died around 3:30 a.m.

Cumberland Drive is on the city's far west side near Caton Farm Road. The family was visiting Joliet but lives in Aurora, according to the fire chief.

It's the second fatal dog attack in the Plainfield area this year and the third in Illinois. In February, a 25-year-old man died several days after being attacked by his own dog in what police called an "unprovoked attack" on the owner and several family members.

In May, a 52-year-old Lake County woman was attacked and killed by her own dog, which had been in custody of animal control after reportedly attacking her boyfriend. She had retrieved the dog from animal control days before she was killed.

Joliet police said the Cumberland Drive incident remains under investigation. No criminal charges or animal negligence citations have been issued thus far.