No criminal charges expected in baby mauling

Putnam County sheriff’s Detective Jimmy Patterson said he consulted with acting District Attorney Tony Craighead and said he ‘advised me that the situation did not appear to be criminal in nature.’

‘Mr. Craighead stated that his office would not be pursuing charges at this time,’ Patterson states in a report.

Trey Paeth was pronounced dead Monday afternoon after the mauling in a bedroom at the home of Allen McCaffrey just outside Cookeville. The dogs have both been destroyed.

Patterson said the boy’s parents, Chris and Casey Paeth, were visiting McCaffrey. They are in the Marines, assigned to Florence, Ala.

As the baby slept, Casey Paeth and McCaffrey’s wife were watching their other children who were playing outside in a pool and also periodically checking on the sleeping baby.

The McCaffreys’ huskies had never caused any problem before, nor were the older children afraid of the dogs, Patterson’s report states.

When the attack occurred, the two women were in another part of the house and heard nothing, the detective said.

When the mother went to check on the baby, she said she noticed the infant was blue and she yelled for the other woman to call emergency officials and began trying to administer CPR.

She said she noticed a scratch on his cheek and blood on his stomach, but was more concerned that he was not breathing.

The baby was taken to a hospital in Cookeville, where he was pronounced dead from the multiple bite wounds.

Patterson said the dog owners, like the baby’s family, were very distraught and that McCaffrey told him he wanted the dogs destroyed.