‘Am I going to die?’: North Carolina family speaks out after 5-year-old daughter attacked by dog with violent history

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. (WNCN) — A family in Cumberland County is seeking justice for their 5-year-old daughter who was attacked by a German shepherd.

Documents show the dog, named Jimmy, was declared potentially dangerous by the county because they say it wasn’t the first attack.

“Am I going to die? Am I going to die?”

Dog attacked in High Point, owners warn neighbors

That’s the question Courtney Mata says her then-4-year-old daughter asked on her way to the hospital last December.

“I will never forget the look on her face during that time because it scared me,” Mata said. “I didn’t know if she was in shock or what it was. It was a blank stare and ghost white.”

She says her daughter, Brenna, was attacked by a neighbor’s dog after he escaped his backyard. Distant screams could be heard on another neighbor’s surveillance camera, which shows what looks like a dog running around with a person chasing it.

“It happened extremely fast,” said Joseph Mata, Brenna’s father. ” I ran up and I kicked the dog. Didn’t really kick it because it kind of seen me coming right at the last moment, so it like moved away and I just clipped the shoulder just a little bit.”

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