A casual play-date in Elmont, NY turned into a murder scene before 11 a.m. on November 8. Man’s best friend turned evil in a long island backyard. A 9-year-old girl, Amiyah Kayla Dunston, was attacked and killed by a neighbor’s male pit bull, Kane.

Amiyah and two friends were innocently playing in their yard when the 2-year-old dog mauled her out of nowhere. Nearby adults tried to stop the dog but failed.

When police arrived at the scene, the dog only let go of Amiyah to charge at the officer, who shot the dog several times, killing him.

No one knew what triggered the dog to do this. Neighbors called him otherwise calm. “He was a good dog, that’s what I don’t understand,” said the dog owner’s uncle, Anthony Jett, in an NY Post article by Reuven Fenton, Tina Moore and Sophia Rosenbaum, “He was a beast because he was a pit, but he was very gentle.”

Other officers on the scene rushed to the little girl’s rescue, taking her to the hospital in critical condition. She was soon after pronounced dead at Franklin Hospital. Police said there were no criminal actions regarding the attack, but the owner of the dog was arrested for an unrelated violation charge.

A funeral was held for Amiyah at Zion Cathedral Church in Freeport Saturday, November 14. Many friends and family were there with support for the Dunston family.