Mom Jailed After 26-Day-Old Son Mauled To Death By Family Dog

The mother of a 26-day-old boy from Indiana was sentenced to prison after the infant was mauled to death by their family dog earlier this year.

Jennifer Connell was sentenced Monday to spend one year in prison and four years on probation. The accused pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect in September.

On the morning of Jan. 25, police responded to the woman's home in Lafayette and found a ferocious dog, a pit bull mix, with blood dripping from its mouth and chest. It was standing next to the infant, Julian Connell, who was lying unresponsive on the bed.

Officers had to shoot the aggressive animal in order to get to Julian. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene.

Jennifer's older son, Jameson, told police that it wasn't the first time the dog had attacked Julian. He said the aggressive dog had scratched and bruised his younger brother a week before he was killed and that his mother was looking for another home for the animal.

He reportedly had to take out the family's smaller dog, a beagle-mix, after the killer canine attacked it the same morning Julian was killed. Unfortunately, the larger dog had found its way into the bedroom where Julian was asleep. When Jameson entered the bedroom, he found the dog covered in blood and standing over his infant brother. He immediately informed the police and called for help, prosecutors said, Journal & Courier reported.

Police said the house was filthy and had piles of dog feces all around.

"Dead and decaying mice throughout the residence and roaches on the furniture," the police report stated, adding that the officers also found two rabbits caged in the basement, ABC-affiliated television station WRTV reported.

Jennifer was charged with three counts of neglect of a dependent. Prosecutors dismissed the other two counts after the 38-year-old pleaded guilty to the most serious count — a Level 5 felony, in September.