Mom In Pit Bull Attack 'Fighting For Life;' Boy Buried Thursday

CARTERET, NJ — The mother of the 3-year-old boy killed by two pit bulls this week "was injured on every part of her body" from bites she got while trying to save her child, and she remains in "very guarded" condition in the ICU as of Friday, said a spokesman for the family.

Residents had also called Carteret police in the past about the two pit bulls running loose in the neighborhood, a town spokesman confirmed.

"She's going to need many more procedures," said Barry, who works with the boy's father at Coney Island Auto Parts and did not want to give his last name. "It's still very guarded but she's still alive and with us, thank God."

"She is fighting for her life and will never fully recover from the scars she now has to live with," Barry wrote on this GoFundMe he started for the family.

The little boy's funeral, which Barry attended, was held at a mosque in Edison Thursday. And now a heartbreaking — and horrifying — picture has emerged of how the toddler and his mother were mauled by the two dogs.

The family had just moved from Brooklyn into their home on Laurel Street in Carteret within the past two months; they had moved in during the last snowstorm of the season, said Barry. As a result, Tuesday was the first mild spring day they were able to go out and use their small yard. The mother and her three sons, ages 3 and up, were outside at around 5 p.m.

A pair of pit bulls who live in a house on Birch Street, directly behind the home, somehow got out of their yard and into the fenced-in yard where the family was playing, said Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman and the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

The mother rushed her two oldest boys inside the house, but she was not able to get the 3-year-old inside in time, said Barry, who said all this was relayed to him by the father. The two pit bulls attacked the boy and the mother threw her body on top of her child's in an attempt to save him, he said.

She was also screaming for help, neighbors told NBC, but nobody was outside at the time.

It was her older son, age 10, who called 911 from inside the home, while helplessly watching his mother and baby brother be attacked by the two dogs, he said.

"It's unfathomable," said Barry. "She was trying to protect her little boy, which any mother, father or human being would do. She got two of the kids inside. Those dogs were vicious."

When Carteret police arrived, they shot one of the pit bulls immediately. The other dog was euthanized later, said Barry.

The boy's injuries were so bad he had to be airlifted to a hospital, where he died. The mother was taken by ambulance.

On Oct. 23 of 2020, Carteret Police received a call that the two pit bulls were running loose in that neighborhood, said Carteret spokesman Jon Salonis. Police collected the dogs and the owner picked them up from police headquarters that day. The dogs were also unregistered with the town.

The owners of the dogs have not been identified or criminally charged.

At the time of the attack, the children's father was at work at the company's Avenel warehouse, just a short drive away.

"When he got the call, he ran out screaming, I was told," said Barry. "Like anyone who got that information would do."

The family never wants to return to the Laurel Street home ever again, said Barry. He said the main goal of the GoFundMe, which so far has raised $84,000 of its $250,000 goal, is to buy them a new home. There are other private donations underway, and the town of Carteret is also collecting money.

"They never want to go back there ever again," said Barry. "Our main goal is to raise enough to buy them a new house, free and outright. Also, the bills for the helicopter airlift, it is high. Insurance only covers so much."

(University Hospital in Newark operated the helicopter that flew the boy to Robert Wood, where he was pronounced dead. University Hospital clarified to Patch that the hospital is not charging the family for the helicopter airlift.)

Barry described the family as "hard-working, kind and wanting the American Dream."

"They came here from Pakistan and (the father) had worked for us for more than 15 years. He's the supervisor in the Avenel warehouse and part of their decision to move here from Brooklyn was to lose that long commute," he said. "In our industry, it's long hours and six days a week, but he's very hard working. He is the most soft-spoken man you ever met and a real family man. He came here for the American Dream to provide for his family."

Barry also said the family has a lot of extended family in the area and Thursday's funeral was a large mix of co-workers and family.

"It's heartbreaking. But you could see the love everyone had for him. We now just want them out of that house."

The Carteret Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office will continue their investigation and can be reached at 732-541-4181 (CPD) and 732-745-3300 (the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office).

Original Patch report: Pair Of Pit Bulls Kill 3-Year-Old Child At Carteret Home

Carteret In Stunned Mourning After Boy, 3, Killed By 2 Pit Bulls

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