The death of a 1-month-old girl found unconscious in her family's apartment in Queens was not the result of a dog mauling, the city's medical examiner ruled, as the mysterious circumstances of her death are now being investigated.
Officers had been called to the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City on Tuesday, after the young girl's mother called 911 claiming the girl had been sleeping in bed between her and her boyfriend. The mother said that when the couple woke up, they allegedly saw their German shepherd-pit bull mix puppy attacking the infant.
The dog had jumped on the bed and was biting the girl's face, a law enforcement source previously told NBC New York.
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WATCH HEREOfficers said they arrived at the sixth-floor apartment in a building between 12th Street and 41st Avenue around 6:40 a.m. They found the 1-month-old, identified as Kiyanna Winfield, unconscious at the time. She later died.
On Wednesday, the New York City medical examiner determined that the infant did not die as a result of a dog mauling, but did not state a cause or manner of death.
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SIGN UP A source said that while the child did have injuries inflicted by a dog, those injuries were inflicted after her death.
The medical examiner's office said further study and testing would be done to determine a cause of death.
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Distraught neighbors said police had visited the apartment for some type of disturbance over the past weeks. They also said a dog that looked like a pit bull was at times roaming around the building unrestricted.
"Cops was always in this building because of them, so I’m not surprised," said neighbor Shanel Norvil. "I seen the dog. He was never on a leash, I know that much."
No arrests had yet been made. It was not known whether the mother or the man living with her had been questioned by police in connection to the girl's death.
