A 73-year-old woman, Jeriline Brady-McGinnis, was mauled to death by her own pit bull.
Her husband sustained injuries when he jumped in to help her on Monday evening, Nov. 18, friends and police said.
Jeriline was gruesomely killed by her dog inside their home in Roxbury around 4:30 p.m., police said.
Her husband and two Boston cops were also reportedly injured as they tried to handle the dog.
All four were rushed to the hospital, but Brady-McGinnis died in surgery, her friend Jean McGuire said.
“She got attacked some way and they ripped her arm,” McGuire, 93, said.
Authorities said the dog was shot, and later put down Tuesday, Nov. 19, Boston Animal Control said.
The two police officers and Brady-McGinnis’ husband suffered non-life threatening injuries.
“She’s very close to her animals, almost like children, I think,” McGuire, who is a civil rights pioneer, said. “She took good care of them. She walked them every day.”
Neighbours were afraid of the four dogs owned by Brady-McGinnis with McGuire claiming the couple had too many pets in the home.
The police department’s homicide unit is probing the incident because the injuries were so severe, according to the outlet.
Brady-McGinnis’ family remembered their loved one as someone who had a “heart of gold.”
“Our mother was a loving and caring mother. She put her children first … The heart and soul of our family is gone,” her three children said, according to WBZ News.
Three other dogs were removed from the home.
