Mother claimed she was just cooking dinner while her baby napped, but everything changed when the infant’s cries alerted pitbulls in the basement

Tragedies from animal attacks, similar to a Florida hiker who recently lost his life due to a bear attack, are making headlines lately. Now, another incident has taken place in Indiana, where a mother was charged with failing to prevent her infant from getting mauled by a pitbull as the baby was asleep in her parents’ bedroom. The dogs that attacked the child were owned by a man living in the basement of the house. 

As reported by People, the incident occurred on April 3, 2025, at the family’s home in Brownstown, about 70 miles south of Indianapolis. It was reported that the infant named Zaelynn died when two pitbulls attacked the child after she began crying in the bedroom of her parents at that time.  Her mother, Paitlyn, told the police that at the time of the incident, she was making dinner for the infant and was on the phone with her grandmother when she started crying. She admitted she heard Zaelynn crying but did not immediately go to check on the infant.

She stated that, during that conversation with her grandmother, she “heard the infant crying” and then “at some point heard a dog barking,” per the affidavit submitted to the court. She then claimed that she checked on Zaelynn 4 to 5 minutes after her first cry, but it was too late. She then called her husband, Dakota, before calling 911, reporting that her daughter had died after being attacked by dogs.

Baby’s mother had prior warning of the dogs’ dangerous behavior toward the infant

Detective Clint Burcham, who is in charge of the investigation of this case, wrote in the affidavit that when he asked Paitlyn about any previous encounter of the dog with the baby, she said that on one encounter, the dog tried to pull her blanket while she sat in her car seat. The detective Burcham reported that when he got on the scene, he saw “a large amount of blood on the bed” on the spot where the baby was sleeping, as well as a gate that was “not blocking the door at the time of the incident.”

Following a teenager’s death by a dog that had never shown any signs of aggression, this is another tragedy that has broken us. The door of the room had no doorknob, nor could it be latched, as Burcham reported, “making it so the door could not latch.” There was another wooden shutter normally used to keep the dogs in the basement, but unfortunately, it was not there when the attack took place. 

One of the dogs has been euthanized, while the second has been given back on the owner’s request. The mother has been charged with reckless homicide, which is a level five felony in Indiana. She could end up in prison for at least 6 years if convicted of the incident. Paitlyn is not the only one charged; the dog’s owner, Todd Banks, has also been charged, as it was reported that he could be heard saying, “he knew she(dog) would do it.” But the case is still hanging in balance, and it is yet to be seen whether the mother is charged or Banks, the dog’s owner, is declared guilty of the unfortunate event.