TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — A 50-year-old man and his 3-month-old granddaughter were found dead Wednesday afternoon inside a Tullahoma home after what authorities described as a sustained mauling by the family’s seven pit bulls. Police fired on the animals to stop the attack and get to the victims, investigators said.
Officials identified the man as James Alexander Smith. The infant’s name was not released. The case has drawn swift attention from city and county authorities as investigators work to confirm whether the deaths happened during the mauling or if either victim died beforehand. The 14th Judicial District attorney general’s office is leading the review with Tullahoma police and Coffee County investigators. The incident is the latest in a spate of severe dog attacks under investigation statewide this year and raises immediate questions about prior complaints, animal control oversight and whether criminal charges will follow.
Police were called to the residence on East Warren Street shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. When officers entered, they found Smith unresponsive and saw several dogs actively attacking the child, according to investigators briefed on the response. Officers shot the dogs to end the mauling and pushed through to the infant, but both the grandfather and the baby were pronounced dead at the scene. “This was an especially difficult and brutal scene,” District Attorney General Craig Northcott said in a statement, adding that the episode has taken a toll on first responders who witnessed it.
Authorities said seven pit bulls were involved. The animals that continued the attack were killed on site by officers. Additional dogs on the property, if any, were secured by animal control pending the outcome of the investigation, officials said. Neighbors told reporters the pack had menaced pets in the surrounding blocks in recent months, including a recent incident in which a cat was killed, though they reported no previous attacks on people. The home was condemned following the response, officials said, while detectives documented the interior and collected evidence including photographs, body-camera footage and veterinary records. Investigators have not released the infant’s cause of death pending autopsy results by the regional medical examiner.
Public records show the property sits in a modest residential area east of downtown, a short drive from schools and small businesses. Residents said the dogs were often seen in the yard and sometimes loose in the street, and several described hearing frantic screaming before sirens arrived Wednesday. One neighbor who did not give his name said he came home around midafternoon to find a woman yelling for help in the roadway. He said officers moved quickly once they reached the door. Smith, 50, was known on the block as a handyman and grandfather who visited often, neighbors said. The infant was three months old; authorities did not release her identity due to her age.
Northcott, who oversees prosecutions in the 14th Judicial District, said his office is examining whether neglect or other criminal conduct played a role and whether the deaths occurred prior to or during the mauling. Investigators are also reviewing any prior calls for service involving the dogs and whether the Department of Children’s Services had contact with the family. No arrests or charges were announced as of Friday. Autopsies and forensic timelines are expected to guide the next steps. Officials said they plan to release additional findings after the medical examiner’s reports and internal incident reviews are complete.
By Thursday, city crews had posted notices at the home while animal control coordinated with police to track vaccination histories and ownership records for the dogs. Tullahoma Police Chief and Coffee County authorities met with prosecutors to review body-camera footage and dispatch logs. “Our thoughts are with the family and with our officers who responded,” Northcott said. A small memorial of flowers and candles formed along East Warren Street as dusk fell, neighbors said. “We heard shots and then it got quiet,” said a man who lives two houses away. “The officers did everything they could to get inside.”
As of Friday evening, investigators said the scene work was complete and evidence was being processed. The medical examiner’s autopsy results are pending and expected to shape any charging decisions. Officials said they would provide the next update after lab findings are returned and timelines are finalized.