Relatives of a two-year-old Arkansas girl killed in a devastating dog attack have been arrested after police said the child was left outside without supervision for roughly 40 minutes before the animal pulled her away.
Earnest Jackson, 54, Christina Hart, 41, and Ma’Kayla Jackson, 21, were taken into custody Tuesday on charges of endangering the welfare of a minor in connection with the March 28 death of two-year-old Celeste Jackson.
According to court documents, a witness whose name was withheld from the records told investigators Celeste had been playing outside the family’s dilapidated home in North Little Rock when the dog grabbed her and dragged her away.
Authorities said the animal was believed to be a well-known stray that often roamed the neighborhood. It was not restrained by a chain or contained behind a fence before it seized the toddler and carried her toward a wooded area.
When officers arrived, police said they found Celeste near the backseat of a van, unclothed and without a diaper, covered in blood and suffering multiple lacerations and bite wounds.
One responding officer reported being unable to detect a pulse and noted that the child’s arm felt cold. Celeste was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
Ma’Kayla Jackson allegedly told officers she had left Celeste in the care of another person, whose name was redacted from the arrest affidavit. Celeste’s mother, Angel Jackson, was working at the time, according to the records.
Investigators said surveillance video appeared to show Celeste walking outside alone at 5:03 p.m., with no adult checking on her until the dog attack at 5:41 p.m.
Detectives added in the affidavit that when they went over camera footage from a week earlier, they also alleged that Celeste had been wandering outside the home for over 20 minutes on March 21 without any supervision.
Celeste Jackson, 2, was dragged into the woods and mauled to death in a vicious ‘stray’ dog attack on March 28 in North Little Rock, Arkansas
Following an investigation into the toddler’s tragic death, police announced this week they had arrested her family members (L-R) Ma’Kayla Jackson, 21, Christina Hart, 41, and Earnest Jackson, 54, on child endangerment charges. They all pleaded not guilty
The attack occurred when Celeste was playing outside the ramshackle seven-bedroom home she shared with 11 relatives in North Little Rock, Arkansas (pictured)
Following the family member’s arrests, all three pleaded not guilty to charges of child endangerment in Pulaski County District Court, and were held in the county jail.
Bond was set for $10,000 for Earnest Jackson, $8,500 for Ma’Kayla Jackson and $3,000 for Hart, reports the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Ma’Kayla allegedly told police that she had fallen asleep while her daughter was playing outside, and she had left her in the care of a person – whose name was redacted from the filing.
A witness said they heard children playing outside, and they ran out when they heard screaming.
Police said that in their review of surveillance footage, Celeste was left alone from 5:03pm, and a woman was seen leaving their home at 5:31pm but did not appear to be looking for her.
That woman, whose name was redacted, walked to a car parked outside and retrieved a bag, before walking back inside after only three minutes and leaving Celeste by herself, police said,
Ten minutes later, several people left the home and began searching for Celeste, police said.
‘So, for approximately 40 minutes’ Celeste ‘was outside, unattended, with no other adults or kids around, wandering by herself up and down the street,’ officers wrote in the affidavit.
Celeste’s grandmother described her as a ‘little angel’ who ‘loved to sing and dance’, with a photo of her uploaded to a GoFundMe page that appears to have been enhanced with AI
Grandmother Shawanda Jackson (pictured with Celeste) said she ‘didn’t know’ how the attack happened while Celeste was at home, where she should have been under the care of several adults
Officers responded to the family home, which sits across from a wooded area cluttered with tires, debris and garbage, to find Celeste had no pulse following the dog attack
Officers noted that Celeste’s family home had seven-bedrooms and was shared by 11 relatives.
Photos show a household marred by squalor and chaos. Celeste’s family members posted photos of her online that appear to have been enhanced using artificial intelligence, with one showing her posing with a coffee at an office desk and another of her drinking a hot drink in a pristine home.
They described the dog that attacked her as ‘tan, dingy, dirty-looking’. The animal is currently in the custody of the Pulaski County Animal Control Division.
Celeste’s grandmother Shawnda Jackson said she was left heartbroken and confused over how the tragedy unfolded.
‘There were six adults… how did this happen?’ she told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
‘She was my whole world,’ she added. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.’
She said that she and Celeste’s mother Angel left the toddler in the care of her family members when they both went to work.
The toddler’s grieving family alleged the dog was a neighbor’s pet that was not fenced in or kept on a chain, allowing it to drag her into the heavily wooded area.
This account was disputed by neighbors, however, who denied that their dog was involved and said the mutt described had been seen roaming the area for at least four years and was nearly impossible to catch, often darting away at the first sign of people.
Ma’Kayla allegedly told police she thought Celeste was under the care of another adult when she went to sleep moments before the fatal dog attack
Pictured: a photo of Celeste on her grandmother’s Facebook that appears to be enhanced by AI
The area is no stranger to stray animals, neighbors said, which are often seen wandering the streets lined with single-story homes and trailers, many appearing abandoned or in disrepair.
‘Who expects to have to bury a two-year-old? I certainly did not expect to. I expected to have her for the rest of my life and I don’t,’ Shawnda told KATV News.
‘My daughter is completely devastated,’ she added. ‘That’s her only child, and for her to be taken this soon and in this manner, I mean, I know she suffered, and that’s what hurts the most.’
‘I should have called into work that day,’ Shawnda told the outlet, explaining that she had considered taking Celeste to leave flowers at her late mother’s grave for her birthday – a plan that never came to fruition.
‘This never would have happened,’ she added.
