1-year-old girl dies in dog attack at July 4th party in Joliet: police

JOLIET, Ill. - A baby girl died from dog bites early Sunday after a dog got loose in a Joliet home.

The 17-month-old’s parents put her in a playpen in an upstairs room of a friend’s house while they attended a Fourth of July party, according to a statement from Joliet police.

Sometime during the night, two pit bull mix dogs got out of the basement of the home in the 1800 block of Cumberland Drive, police said. About 1:30 a.m. July 5, the homeowner heard noise upstairs and found one of the dogs biting the baby.

The homeowner separated the dog from the child and called 911, police said. The girl was taken with “bite marks throughout her body” to St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet where she died.

The dog was turned over to Joliet Township Animal Control, police said.

The Will County coroner’s office has not released the girl’s name.

No charges have been filed.