The parents of a 2-year-old Oklahoma girl, mauled to death by a family pit bull, now face upgraded first-degree murder charges. LockLynn McGuire was found dead in her bedroom on November 18 after her mother, Darci Lambert, called 911, reporting the toddler had stopped breathing.
Upon arrival at the Oklahoma City home, officers discovered the girl with fatal wounds consistent with dog bites. “My daughter got eaten by the pit,” Lambert allegedly told first responders. Investigators determined LockLynn had been locked in her room with one of the family’s four dogs, a malnourished black pit bull named Ella, during the attack.
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Tragically, the November 18 incident was not the first attack. According to an affidavit, the same dog had severely mauled LockLynn just weeks earlier, on November 6, severing her ear and requiring the toddler to undergo plastic surgery. Despite this, Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS), which investigated the prior attack, did not remove the child or the dogs from the home.
The parents continued to keep Ella, uncaged, in the toddler’s locked room. The affidavit states the girl’s father, Jordan McGuire, put her to bed with the dog at around 7:30 p.m. Lambert discovered her daughter’s body around 11:30 p.m. after returning from work. The door had locks preventing the child from escaping, FOX 25 reports.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna said, “Lambert and McGuire’s complete disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of their child and their failure to protect her despite knowing she was at risk, led to her death.” The couple, initially charged with second-degree murder, now face charges of first-degree murder and animal cruelty.
Following the tragedy, State Rep. Justin JJ Humphrey criticized the child welfare response, stating, “Absolutely, if they did their job, you would not have a death here. You’d have a live baby.”
In a statement, OKDHS called the loss “heartbreaking” and emphasized it as “a devastating reminder of the importance of creating safe environments around pets.” The criminal case and the agency’s prior actions remain under investigation.
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