Autopsy: Boy Bled To Death After Being Mauled By Dogs

Wild African Dogs At Pittsburgh Zoo (boothedit)
Wild African Dogs At Pittsburgh Zoo (boothedit)
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Updated: 11/06/2012 9:15 am

JOE MANDAK

Associated Press


PITTSBURGH (AP) - The medical examiner's office says a 2-year-old boy who died in the Pittsburgh zoo's African wild dog exhibit bled to death after he was mauled by the animals.


Police and officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium are continuing to investigate the death of Maddox Derkosh, which happened Sunday after he fell from a wooden railing overlooking the painted dogs exhibit.


The Whitehall boy's funeral is Friday and his parents are asking friends, relatives and other mourners to donate toy construction trucks in the boy's name, which will be given to a Christmas children's charity.


The Allegheny County Medical Examiner has yet to rule on the manner of the boy's death - that is, whether it was an accident or not - until police determine whether anyone will be charged.


The boy's family has not commented.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of WKRC-TV :: Cincinnati Weather and Forecasts, Cincinnati News, Breaking News, and Sports for the Cincinnati area, Ohio, northern Kentucky, Indiana, and the tristate area

HammeringHank - 11/12/2012 4:47 PM
0 Votes
W Trent....yes the mother should be blamed. But I still feel that the employees should have tried to help the child once he fell into the pen. Yes it was the mothers fault he ended up there to begin with but they may have been able to save him?? I guess we'll never know

Truth Matters - 11/9/2012 1:41 PM
0 Votes
Richard, sure, make those dogs even more aggressive toward foreign objects. They have their intended food. Moron

Richard789 - 11/9/2012 1:05 PM
0 Votes
Throw the peacock to these dogs with the parents of both children in the peacock and dog incidents.

Ammys2Cuties - 11/8/2012 7:01 AM
1 Vote
D Bone - 11/7/2012 11:47 PM - we tend to comment on the stories in our news. That is not to say that we, as a group, are insensitive to the multitude of horrors for children around the globe - they also have the issue with the dingos in Australia. Children are worldwide victims, and that is something to cry about.

D Bone - 11/7/2012 11:47 PM
0 Votes
Little kids are eaten by wild dogs in Africa every day. I don't hear any of you crying about that.

rosey red - 11/7/2012 8:37 PM
1 Vote
It is so heart wrenching when a child has to pay the price for the stupidity of their parents!

Ammys2Cuties - 11/7/2012 9:15 AM
0 Votes
Yep, that is one reason they are called TODDLERS for crying out loud...I agree.

Cincinnatus - 11/7/2012 8:45 AM
1 Vote
This is the mother's fault. Everyone knows a 2 yr old is no master of balance. How could she just plop him up there and let go of him?

CornDog - 11/6/2012 9:06 PM
0 Votes
This tragedy is avoided if the mom doesn't place the child on, or over, the rail - period. Yes, this will haunt her for the rest of her live and yes, I for one hope that life is spent in a tiny cell. Oh, and Hammer 1, urban dictionary has this definition of the word sence - "This is how idiots spell sense, since they have no sense, they can't f*!=ing spell it."

W Trent - 11/6/2012 4:22 PM
4 Votes
HammeringHank - 10:39 AM - You are so wrong. You know nothing about these animals. The can take down a large beast in Africa quickly and run in packs. They are deadly! There was a net below that the child fell through. Learn to read the signs is what the mother should have done. The stupidity is the mother who did not hold on to the child in the first place. The child should have never been placed on the rail. Put blame where it belongs, directly on the mother who needs to be prosecuted. I hope she pays a greater price than the memory. It is not the zoo's fault!
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