Parents of Dog-Mauled Baby Charged: Manslaughter While Smoking Weed

In upstate New York, the parents of a sleeping 3-year-old, mauled to death by dogs, are now facing manslaughter charges. What were they doing? Smoking weed, of course!

The tragicomedy unfolded earlier this month in Rochester, during the early afternoon hours, as the baby boy was catching some Zs.

Meet Sulamain Hawkins Jr., the innocent tyke who was fatally mauled on August 3rd while snoozing in the attic of a residence on Bidwell Terrace, according to Rochester Police Department Capt. Greg Bello.

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Who are baby Sulamain’s parents?

Enter Anastasia Weaver and Sulamain Hawkins Sr., the boy's 19-year-old parents, who spent the night in the unfinished attic of a multi-family residence they occasionally crashed at, Bello said.

Around 1 p.m. on that fateful day, the parents allegedly left the infant sleeping on the attic floor while they went downstairs for a puff of Mary Jane, leaving the two "pit bull type" dogs with the child. When they returned, they found the child unresponsive from the dog mauling. Oops.

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What happened to the baby?

The baby suffered "severe trauma" to his body and was taken to a hospital, where he died several hours later, police said. The dogs involved were euthanized by Rochester Animal Services.

What are the charges?

Both Weaver and Sulamain Hawkins Sr. were taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter, police said. They were booked into Monroe County Jail and held on $15,000 bond.

The couple was arraigned Thursday in Rochester City Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges, WHAM-TV reported.

"This is not a case where a mom puts down a baby on a bed to go to the bathroom or to quickly tend to another child in crisis," the outlet reported Assistant District Attorney Sara VanStrydonck said during the hearing. "The allegations here are we feel support the recklessness that a reasonable person in these defendants’ situations would not have acted the way they did."

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.