Seven-day-old Alexis McDermott died of internal bleeding and injuries to multiple organs after Wednesday's attack in Coventry, the chief medical examiner rules.

09:02 AM EDT on Friday, July 15, 2005

BY BENJAMIN N. GEDAN
Journal Staff Writer

Cindy McDermott had just left her newborn Wednesday morning to pour a glass of juice in the kitchen when she heard cries from the play crib in the living room. The family's pet Siberian husky had attacked, the police say.

McDermott, 34, found her seven-day-old daughter, Alexis, lying on the floor, her head bloodied. The dog, a medium-size male named Shadow, was lying nearby, the girl's father, Scott McDermott, 30, told the police yesterday.

Alexis died shortly afterward, in what acting Town Manager Richard Sullivan called the first fatal dog attack in Coventry in at least 40 years.

The infant had suffered internal bleeding and injuries to several internal organs -- the result of blunt-force trauma from multiple dog bites, the state's interim chief medical examiner, Jennifer L. Swartz, reported yesterday after conducting an autopsy.

"I don't know how to find the words to say. It's an awful tragedy," said Frank Hyde, the Coventry Town Council president. "We're praying for the family."

The police say the baby's mother had at first considered the injuries minor. But around 8 a.m., she alerted her husband, who rushed home from work. Gail Ciummo, the baby's grandmother, also arrived at the family's home, in the Blackrock neighborhood, and the three decided to take Alexis to the hospital.

The family lives on Manning Court, just over the border with West Warwick. As the four headed through West Warwick toward the hospital, Ciummo discovered that Alexis had stopped breathing. Ciummo diverted the car to a nearby fire station, according to police Capt. Bryan Volpe.

The baby was unresponsive when she arrived, at 8:45 a.m., at Fire Station 2 on Main Street. She had few outward signs of a dog attack, but her heartbeat was slow and her breathing labored, said fire Lt. Paul Boisclair, who administered first aid to Alexis and helped transport her to Kent Hospital, in Warwick.

"It's heavy trauma for everyone when you see this. It puts a lot of stress on you," Boisclair said. "Most firefighters have children, and you see what the parents are going through."

Four firefighters -- two from Station 2 and two dispatched aboard Engine 1 -- hooked Alexis to a heart monitor and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, using a bag-valve mask to help her breathe as they raced to the hospital.

A hospital spokesman could not be reached, but Town Councilman Gregory Laboissonniere said the baby was examined in the emergency room, where a private area was closed off for the family.

The police said they had never received complaints about the dog.

Town officials said Alexis was the McDermotts' first child. The infant had arrived home from the hospital on Sunday, and her father told the police that Shadow had exhibited no hostility toward the baby girl.

When patrolmen and animal-control officers, who had been alerted by the West Warwick police, arrived on Manning Court, the family had already left for the hospital, where relatives were too distraught to be interviewed. The police impounded the dog and assigned the department's five detectives to investigate.

"Our whole detective division is investigating this," Capt. Scott Trafford, a Coventry police spokesman, said early yesterday. "This is very important. Everything gets put on hold."

The dog is being held at the town animal shelter on Flat River Road. The town may hold a vicious-dog hearing to determine if it should be killed, but no such hearing is yet scheduled, Trafford said.

Benjamin N. Gedan can be reached at bgedan [at] projo.com