Charges issued after infant girl killed by dog in Jackson County
Two people have been charged after a dog killed an infant last year in Jackson County.
According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and court documents, rescue workers were called to a home in the 1800 block of South County Road 100E in Brownstown on April 3rd of 2025 on reports that a baby had been killed by a dog. Members of the Brownstown Fire, police and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department arrived on the scene and worked to save the baby. Lt. Adam Nicholson took the child to meet an ambulance and she was later declared dead at the hospital.
At the time of the incident, 50-year-old Todd A. Banks and the child’s mother, 25-year-old Paitlyn Grove were both present, along with others. Grove told investigators that she was preparing dinner in the kitchen and talking on the phone while the girl was sleeping in a bedroom. Grove heard the infant crying and a dog barking at about 12:20 p.m. that afternoon. When she went to check she found the attack.
Investigators discovered a large amount of blood on the bed, and on the nose of one of the home’s dogs, a female pit bull named Simba. Police say that the bedroom did not have a doorknob and couldn’t be secured and that makeshift gates were not in use at the time of the incident. Interviews also revealed that the dog had shown interest in the baby previously and had tried to pick the infant up.
During a 911 call, Banks, the dogs’ owner, could be heard in the background saying that he knew “she would do that” and police believed he was referring to the dog attacking the child.
Last week, a grand jury indicted Banks on a charge of reckless homicide and a warrant was issued for his arrest Thursday. He was arrested on Sunday.
A charge of reckless homicide has also been filed against Grove.
The dog was euthanized.
Note: The original version of this story said that the incident occurred in April of this year, but that was incorrect. The correct dates was April of 2025. The story has been corrected.