Puppy did not maul newborn to death in Queens apartment, autopsy finds
A one-month-old baby in Queens did not die after being mauled by a dog, an autopsy has found.
The newborn, named as Kiyanna Winfield, was found dead on a bed inside the Queensbridge Houses complex in Long Island City on Tuesday morning.
NYPD Investigators previously thought the little girl had died after the family's 6-week-old pit bull and German Shepherd mix puppy mauled her face as she slept in a bed with her mother and her partner.
However, the medical examiner has ruled that Winfield did not die as a result of dog bites.
'The cause and manner of death are pending further study following the examination today,' a spokesperson for the New York City Office of the Medical Examiner told The New York Post Wednesday.
'But we can confirm this is not a death from a dog mauling. The injuries inflicted by the dog were postmortem', they added.
No charges have been filed as of Thursday. Authorities have not confirmed the nature of their investigation.
Winfield's official cause of death is 'pending further study' and will 'include a full pediatric workup', the spokesperson said.
When police arrived at the horror scene, Winfield was unconscious, with 'a substantial portion' of her face bitten off.
Her mother claimed she woke up and found the puppy 'chewing the baby's face'.
Neighbors from the apartment complex said they heard 'piercing screams of a mother in anguish' bellowing through the building.
Two other dogs, including a pit bull, were found inside the home.
The young pit bull mix pup was removed from the home by the NYPD and taken to an Animal Care Centers of NYC shelter on Tuesday evening, according to the New York Daily News.
The animal was reportedly placed on a 10-day observation hold for rabies.
Neighbor Shanel Norville gave her view on the tragedy to NBC New York, saying: 'That's really sad. I feel bad for the mom, but at the end of the day, I feel like whoever was in that house they weren't being responsible. I'm sorry.'
Norville said that she rarely saw the puppy in question on a leash.
The baby's mother was excited to be a parent and recently phoned family friend Yvette Mathurin, 69, and sent pictures of Winfield to her, according to the Daily News.
'She promised to come see me. She said she was going to bring the baby, but we did not have the time', Mathurin said.
'She was very excited. She's a kids lover. She loves kids, loves children. I don't know how that happened.'
Burton's adoptive mother reportedly offered to take the child in, while Burton, who was believed to be living in a shelter at the time, sought to secure better housing, shared the outlet.
'I learned that she was pregnant maybe a couple of days before she gave birth,' the adoptive mother told the newspaper.
'After she gave birth, she loved the baby. I asked her if she had any problems and if she wanted to give me the baby. She said no, she'd take care of her. She would manage', she added.
The concerned woman questioned why a dog was kept in the house with a young baby.
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