Great Dane/husky mix ends baby laughs on Florida mother’s 21st birthday

Pit bull death of homeless woman in California raises July 2025 toll to record dozen

ORMOND BEACH,  Florida;  SAN BERNARDINO,  California––“I don’t know who needed to hear some baby laughs today,”  Volusia County,  Florida resident Kyliegh Wagner posted to Facebook on July 29,  2025,  at 9:40 a.m.,  with video of her five-month-old son Carter Anthony Carbonell,  “but I know it made my whole day.

“Also the first time he’s ever busted out laughing like that.”

Two hours and forty minutes short of 48 hours later,  Wagner posted,  “With heavy hearts I am here today to say what no parents should ever have to say or even go through.  I am at a loss for words.  But baby Carter has passed unexpectedly.  What we thought would be an enjoyable night,”  out with Wagner’s husband Ryan Carbonell to celebrate Wagner’s 21st birthday,  “turned into the worst night of our lives.”

“Let her three dogs out of their cage”

Carter Anthony Carbonell was left in the care of his great-grandmother and great-aunt,  Volusia County sheriff Mike Chitwood told digital producer Allison Petro and reporter Pamela Comme of the Orlando-based WESH television news team.

Summarized Petro and Comme,  “While taking care of the boy,  they decided to put him in a bedroom and locked the door.

“Chitwood said the great-aunt let her three dogs out of their cage while she and the great-grandmother went to the kitchen to prepare food.

“The family then discovered that the bedroom door,  where the boy had been,  was open.

“Once the great-grandmother entered the room,  she saw their biggest dog,  a 130-pound Great Dane and husky mix,  sitting next to the boy,”  who “was bleeding and seemed lifeless,  according to Chitwood.

The Great Dane/husky mix was impounded,  surrendered by the family,  and euthanized later in the day.

Second Volusia County fatality of 2025

“The fatal attack was the second to occur in Volusia County this year,”  observed Patricio G. Balona for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.  On January 13,   2025,  an eight-year-old DeLand boy,”  Michael Millett,  “was out riding his bicycle with a friend when he was mauled” by two pit bulls belonging to neighbor Amanda Bailey Franco.

Amanda Bailey Franco,  Balona detailed earlier,  “had been arrested 12 times since 2015 for drug offenses,  aggravated battery,  battery,  aggravated battery with a deadly weapon,  and a probation violation,”  and according to sheriff Chitwood was “on supervised weekly drug testing,  after convictions for offenses involving methamphetamines and cocaine.”

(See 1st dead by dog in 2025: man killed by own pit bull & boy who allegedly petted pits.)

Food delivery driver barely survived

There was also a nearly fatal pit bull in Volusia County on June 20,  2025,  Balona reported on July 10,  2025.

“Fran Williams,  55,  said she thought she was going to die,”  Balona began.

Dogs identified as a Staffordshire pit bull and a brindle Labrador retriever mix,  a common code phrase denoting a pit mix,  “had clamped onto her left leg, and her arm and head while she was delivering an Uber Eats order to her neighbor,”  Balona explained.

The attack left Williams “unable to walk and do the job she’s loved for 40 years––being a server,”  Balona wrote.  “Her injuries were so serious,  she required blood transfusions and five hours of surgery to close her wounds.”

Balona identified the dogs’ owner as Stephanie Sullivan.

“Sullivan told animal services investigators that she was waiting outside for the food to be delivered,  but went back indoors because her baby started crying.  The woman said that when she went outside again, Fran Williams was already by her front door,  according to an incident report.”

Both dogs were impounded and classified as dangerous,  Balona said.

Record toll

Carter Anthony Carbonell was the eleventh U.S. dog attack fatality of July 2025,  four more than the previous record of seven in a month,  raising the U.S. total to 48 in seven months.

That would have been a record total for a full year as recently as 2022.

Thirty-eight of the 48 fatalities were by pit bull.

One more fatal pit bull attack before July 2025 ended raised the record total for the month to 12 and raised the dog attack death total for the year to 49,  39 by pit bull.

Cop attacked while giving first aid

On July 31,  2025,  at about 5:00 p.m.,  “San Bernardino police converged on Perris Hill Park after receiving a call that someone was being attacked by dogs,”  said Sergeant Chris Gray of the San Bernardino Police Department told Los Angeles Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez.

“When the first officer arrived,”  picked up Leticia Juarez of KABC television news,  in Los Angeles,  “he found a woman on the ground with visible injuries.  As he began to render aid,  two pit bulls suddenly charged out of nearby bushes.

“The officer opened fire,  killing one of the dogs.

“Severe injuries to her face”

“During this encounter,”  Juarez continued,  “officers discovered a second woman,  about 30 yards away,  who appeared to have suffered significant injuries from dog bites.”

Updated San Bernardino Police Department detective Araceli Mata,  “She had severe injuries to her face.  She was transported to the hospital,  where she later succumbed to those injuries.”

The victim was later identified as Teodora Mendoza, 51,  who has been homeless for more than a year,  her 21-year-old son Alex Lozano told media.

Resumed Juarez,  “Police later determined the first woman,  the one initially believed to have been attacked,  had not been bitten.  How she was injured remains unclear.

“Animal control officers removed 14 dogs from the area,  including the surviving pit bull,”  Juarez added.

“Officials did not say who the dogs belonged to or whether they were legally registered.  The condition of the surviving victim was not immediately available,”  Juarez finished.

Mentioned Hernandez,  “It was unclear if the two victims knew each other.”

Perris Hill Park

Perris Hill Park, the largest public green space in San Bernardino,  has become a notorious homeless encampment.

On November 3,  2024 an unidentified homeless man was possibly stabbed and definitely mauled to death by pit bulls in Perris Hill Park,  police told KABC television news.

Eleven pit bulls were reportedly impounded at the scene.

The homeless encampment was supposed to have been cleared by October 31,  2024,  after protracted litigation brought against the city of San Bernardino on behalf of the homeless residents by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The eviction of about 150 homeless campers from Perris Hill Park was eventually accomplished several weeks later.  Only about 30 of them accepted temporary housing and rehabilitation services offered by public agencies.

Less than a year later Perris Hill Park is reportedly again largely co-opted by homeless campers.

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