Boy, 5, mauled to death by dog in Chicago

CHICAGO -- A 5-year-old boy was killed by a dog in Chicago Monday night. Several witnesses intervened, eventually killing the dog that just wouldn't let go of the child.

The Cook County medical examiner identified the victim as James W. Nevils, of the 8000-block of South Escabana Avenue. James was visiting family at a home on the city's South Side Monday when he was mauled.

"I hear someone yelling, 'He has my baby! Somebody please help me!' When I looked, I thought someone was fighting. When I looked closer, the dog had the child by the neck and shoulder," said Bianca White, who lives nearby.

Two men ran over and started beating the dog in an attempt to get it to let go of the boy, neighbors said. It worked, briefly, but the dog then went after the child again.

"They started stabbing it. They threw rocks at it. They dropped this big rock on it. They didn't wait for the dog to turn around and attack them. They just started attacking it," White said.

"I don't know, I wasn't really thinking about nothing but getting the dog off the baby," said Marquis Lewis, 16. "We grabbed a brick from over there by the tracks and started hitting the dog with the brick. Then my brother grabbed the pole, started hitting the dog with the pole until the dog died."

James was unresponsive when the ambulance arrived. Emergency responders rushed him to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he later died. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

Lewis' brother, Lamar, 19, said the dog's owner was not there when the attack occurred and returned only after the dog was dead and James was on his way to the hospital.

"All I heard was, 'Why y'all let the dog out?' Because he knew what kind of dog he had. So them letting the dog out, he knew what was possible to happen," Lamar Lewis said.

Police are still investigating and no charges have been filed.