Rochester Police have charged the parents of an infant with manslaughter, after the boy died after being mauled by at least one of two dogs.
The incident on August 3 at a residence on Bidwell Terrace resulted in the death of 3-month-old Sulamain Hawkins Jr.
RPD said the investigation by their department, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office and Child Protective Services showed that Sulamain’s parents, Anastasia Weaver and Sulamain Hawkins Sr., both 19-years-old, had spent the night in the unfinished attic of the residence on Bidwell Terrace.
Police said they did not live at the house, but were associates of the residents there and occasionally spent evenings at the building.
During the late morning, early afternoon hours of August 3, police said that the parents left the child, Sulamain Jr., sleeping on the floor in the attic, while they went down to the 2nd floor to smoke marijuana. The two dogs were also left in the attic, according to RPD.
Police said when the parents returned to the attic, they found the child unresponsive from a dog attack. Sulamain Jr. died from his injuries several hours later and the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the case as a homicide due to injuries from a dog mauling.
Anastasia Weaver and Sulamain Hawkins Sr. were charged with Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree.
Since the attack, Rochester Animal Services has euthanized both dogs.
