WAXHAW, N.C. -- The day after a pit bull attack took the life of a little girl detectives are meeting with the district attorney about possible criminal charges and officials in Waxhaw are considering changing some laws.
Greg Kearney won't forget his Wednesday morning trip to the mailbox anytime soon.
“I heard a woman screaming loudly,” he says.
The screaming was coming from 67-year-old Nancy Presson, as she was trying desperately to save her granddaughter, 5-year-old Mikayla Woodard from the jaws of two pit bulls.
The little girl died in the ambulance and her grandmother has what has been described as "serious lacerations" on her hand, wrist and arm.
“She was screaming very loudly several times I knew something bad happened, a bad situation, Kearney says.
He says he's seen the dogs roaming the streets before and worried that something like this could happen.
“It did because of pit bulls reputation,” he explains. “It did worry me, I stayed away from them.”
Nichole Rushing had an experience with the pit bulls.
“About eight months ago I was walking my dog, and one of the pit bulls attacked my 10 pound dog,” Rushing says. “I called the police and they told me there was nothing they could do about it because there was no leash law.”
Waxhaw does have a leash law but police say it’s difficult to enforce because they don’t have an animal control officer.
Waxhaw’s police chief says he doesn’t have a record of any dog complaints, but officers were at the dog owner’s house on Christmas for a domestic violence call.
Waxhaw’s town manager says he expects that the town council to take a close look at the current dog ordinance and may strengthen it because of Mikayla’s death.
