6-year-old killed in dog attack in Lorain, police say

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Authorities are investigating how a family dog ​​in Lorain bit a 6-year-old boy to death.

Jaxson Dvorak died after the attack at his East 31st Street home on Wednesday, according to the Lorain County coroner’s office and Lorain police. On Friday, the boy’s family set up a GoFundMe account, saying Jaxson would start first grade in the fall.

“My heart is broken,” Brittany Dvorak, his mother, said in the online message. “My world has fallen apart. I feel like I’m in a really bad nightmare and I’m trying to wake up, but I can’t.”

Jacob Morris, a lieutenant with the Lorain Police Department, said the incident happened around 4 p.m. Wednesday. He said multiple dogs may have been involved. Morris said the family had mixed breed dogs.

No charges were filed.

The Friendship Animal Protection League in Elyria took the dogs in from the family. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer contacted the agency and asked for information about the dogs and their breeds.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 468 Americans nationwide died after being bitten or struck by a dog between 2011 and 2021. The annual number of deaths ranged from 31 (2016) to 81 (2021).

On the first day, the GoFundMe account raised $1,985 of the $15,000 goal to help the family with funeral expenses.

In the message on the page, Brittany Dvorak said she will not live to see Jaxson start first grade in the fall, nor will she wake up with him in her bed if he decides to come and snuggle up to her in the middle of the night.

The message said Jaxson would shout the name of professional wrestler John Cena before making a random jump. He enjoyed digging in the dirt for worms and playing the video game Roblox with his brothers Trevor and Kaden, his mother said.

“He made friends everywhere he went,” his mother said. “His smile was contagious. He was the best little boy there ever was.”