By Kashmira Gander
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A pair of dogs that killed a "wonderful" 7-year-old in North Carolina had the girl by her neck before an off-duty police officer stopped the attack.
Two pitbulls attacked Jayden Belle Henderson and her mother Heather Trevaskis in the town of Garner on Tuesday. The pair were in their neighbor's yard looking after their dogs while they were out of town. Captain Lorie Smith of the Garner Police Department confirmed to Newsweek that both dogs were involved in the attack.
Jayden died of her injuries, while her mother suffered serious wounds to her arm and hand. She underwent surgery on Wednesday and was in a stable condition in hospital, The Herald Bulletin reported.
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Hayley Trevaskis, Heather Trevaskis' older sister, told The Herald Bulletin an off-duty police officer who lived nearby had saved her sister's life after he heard the attack.
She said: "He knew how to handle the dogs and got them off Heather … They first attacked Jayden. They grabbed her by the back of her neck."
Heather Trevaskis cannot use her arms at present, but doctors believe she will regain movement and do not foresee any lasting damage, her sister said.
Hayley Trevaskis told the newspaper that her sister, who also has a 1-year-old daughter named Ryleigh, was a "very devoted mother" and her children were "her entire world."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for Jayden's funeral expenses and medical costs for her mother. More than 500 donors had contributed by Friday morning, raising almost $36,000.
The page described Jayden as "such a wonderful, kind little girl, and her outgoing personality touched the lives of all of us around her. She leaves behind a family who loves her immensely."
The message went on: "We are all devastated by the Hendersons' loss."
WRAL-TV, where Heather Trevaskis worked as a master control operator for the past eight years, reported that the young girl would play hide and seek in the newsroom when she would visit her mother at work.
Hayley Trevaskis also paid tribute to Jayden, with whom she lived for more than a year at her sister's home. The young girl was goofy, silly and affectionate, loved cats, unicorns, and "stunts" like climbing trees, she told The Herald Bulletin.
Jayden would take part in dance marathons and charity runs, and urge her aunt to stay longer whenever she visited from Colorado. "She would say, 'Well, there are planes that leave at later times for Colorado,'" Heather Trevaskis said.
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