Authorities: Dog kills, dismembers SC 2-month-old

Aiden McGrew's mother called 911 when she got home around 11 a.m. and discovered the boy's leg was severed by a retriever mix the family had taken into the home a few weeks earlier, Dorchester County deputies said.

The boy died at the hospital a short time later, Coroner Chris Nisbet said in a news release.

Nisbet said the boy was bitten and dismembered, but he refused to answer additional questions about the infant's injuries. He said he hopes an autopsy scheduled for Saturday will determine if the boy was dead before the dog dismembered him.

"Today is one of the saddest days in my 20+ years of being in the Dorchester County Coroner's Office as I report to all of you one of the worst deaths I have ever handled," Nisbet wrote in his email to the media, which had the subject line "Today's Nightmare."

When the infant was injured, McGrew's mother was taking the family's 7-year-old child to the doctor. The father was sleeping in a bedroom with a 3-year-old child, while the baby was in a baby swing outside that room, Dorchester County Sheriff L.C. Knight said.

Investigators are still trying to sort out how the attack unfolded. The father was being questioned by deputies Friday afternoon, Knight said.

"It's terrible. I don't want to go into details about exactly what happened because the investigation is still ongoing," Knight said. "It was a real bad scene."