UPDATE: Mother Arrested in Case of Toddler Attacked By Dogs

Augusta, GA—Larry Swint, dog attack victim’s Great-uncle: “I know when he wakes up he’s going to want his momma, so that’s going to be bad.“

Two-year-old Damien Chavous, shown in our picture as an infant, remains in critical condition at MCG. His mom, 25-year-old Jessica Chavous, is now behind bars, charged with negligence after her son was mauled by the neighbor’s dogs.

Swint: “She loved them kids, she tried to take care of them. she would never leave them, they didn’t just get pawned off on somebody, she took care of her kids, I know that, so I know she loved them.“

The dog attack appears to be Ms. Chavous’s second recent encounter with law enforcement. Investigators say, on July 3rd, a woman stopped in front of Chavous’s home when she saw Damien standing next to Belair Road, by himself, with no adult supervision.

Swint: “The cops come up there, so she called the cops, and he, he and the patrolmen talked to him, and asked was he alright, he said, ‘fine,‘ and he said, ‘okay, well I’m glad everything is alright,‘ and he left, that was all there was to that.“

Meanwhile, the owner of the dogs that attacked Damien, Shirley Barnes, was in court in Aiken County, Tuesday. She also has a home in Belvedere and animal control officers took 24 dogs from there last month. Barnes was charged with failure to prove they had rabies shots. She claims the 5 dogs on her Georgia property that attacked little Damien, were being taunted.

Shirley Barnes, dog owner: “I think that somebody stood at that fence with that little boy in their arm and that he lunged out of their arms when the dogs came rushing up to the fence. Because, I have actually seen one of the men over there hold the little girls at his arms and kick at the fence in the front yard. It’s just a matter of someone making a stupid decision, to do something stupid, and something horrible happening because of it.“

The dogs that attacked Damien are being held at Richmond County Animal Control until proof of rabies shots can be shown. Barnes faces no charges, right now. As for the Damien, and all that’s happening to him, we talked to a child psychiatrist at MCG Health, about the challenges he’ll face when he gets out of the hospital.

Donna Londino, Child Psychiatrist, MCG Health: “There’s a high relevance between trauma and later depression, and then anxiety…so out of the blue, again, you have this sensitive physiologic system that may begin to produce symptoms of panic.“

The Georgia Department of Family and Child Services has an ongoing investigation. They have been in contact with Jessica in the past, but we’re told by her family that nothing ever came of it.