Parents for Dog Bite Awareness

Left in the dark with pit bulls, failed by the adults around him: how baby Sulamain’s death reveals the deadly connection between poverty, neglect, and dangerous dog ownership.

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝗸𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗝𝗿. 🕊️👼💔

Three month old Sulamain was just beginning his life when it was brutally ended on August 3rd, 2024 by a dog attack inside an attic in Rochester, New York. This was no tragic accident: it was a preventable death rooted in a devastating cycle of poverty, neglect, and violence.

According to police and prosecutors, Sulamain was left alone for nearly an hour on the attic floor with two pit bulls while his teenage parents, Amanda Weaver (Asia Blxck) and Sulamain ‘Moody’ Hawkins, went downstairs to smoke m—-juana. The home had no electricity. 

It was not their own home either. The family was living in an unfurnished attic space in a stranger’s home. When the parents returned, their baby had been mauled. Sulamain later died at Strong Memorial Hospital from his injuries.

Both parents, just 19 years old, were arrested and charged with 2nd degree manslaughter. The dogs were later dispatched by order of the court.

📉 This case painfully underscores patterns we cannot ignore:

• Pitbull ownership is strongly correlated with increased child abuse rates, particularly in economically disadvantaged households.

• Studies show that abused and neglected children are more likely to live in homes with dangerous dog breeds, and these environments are often compounded by instability, substance abuse, and lack of support systems.

• Communities in poverty are disproportionately impacted by both dog bite fatalities and child welfare failures, perpetuating intergenerational trauma.

It is our duty to speak the truth, even when it is hard. Pitbull type dogs have been responsible for the overwhelming majority of child maulings and deaths in the U.S. Their use as status symbols or perceived protection in marginalized communities doesn’t change their potential for fatal attacks, especially on our most vulnerable.

🐾 Sulamain should have been held, fed, and sung to sleep, not left in the dark beside predators. His life mattered. His death must not be in vain.

We remember you today, sweet boy. May your short life inspire change, truth, and accountability. 💙

#RestInPeaceSulamain

#AngelDay

#DogBiteAwareness

#PitbullReality

#StopTheCycle

#ChildSafetyFirst

#JusticeForVictims

#EndDogMaulings

🕯️🐾