PIT BULL ATTACK
Statistics show pit bulls are involved in most serious, fatal dog attacks

A 6-year-old girl has died days after after she was attacked by a dog in her Arlington home.

In a message to News4Jax, Jaelah Smith's father wrote:
Unfortunately my princess is no longer with us. I would like for you guys to keep my family in your prayers

Police and firefighters were called to a house on Herrick Drive in Arlington around 10:15 a.m. Sunday by a neighbor who heard screaming and saw the girl's mother carry the girl's unconscious body outside.

"I just kept hearing somebody (yell), 'Help me, help me!'" Timothy Hightower told News4Jax. "She came out of the house and laid the baby down right there and told us to call the paramedics, and that's what we did."

Jaelah Smith was taken girl to Memorial Hospital with what police described as "very serious, life-threatening injuries." She was transferred to Wolfson Children's Hospital.

The girl's 7- and 9-year-old siblings were not hurt.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office believes the dog that bit Jaelah was a mixed-breed pit bull. The dog was picked up by Animal Care and Protective Service and placed on a 10-day quarantine and is being medically observed.

Police said there was more than one dog at the home at the time and the dog that attacked Jaelah was not the family's pet, but a dog they were watching while friends were on vacation.

The I-TEAM reviewed numbers of dog bites and found pit bulls were involved in more serious or fatal dog bites than other breeds.

"Need to be extra vigilant and careful when there is a new dog in your home or when your child is visiting a home," said Colleen Lynn, founder of DogsBite.org.

Lynn founded the group after she was attacked by a pit bull 11 years ago.