Grandfather and 3-month-old granddaughter found dead during Tullahoma pit-bull mauling
Tullahoma authorities said a 3-month-old girl and her grandfather died during a December 2025 dog-mauling emergency; a September 16, 2026 district-attorney update announced grand-jury indictments against three surviving adults.
Incident summary
Tullahoma police responding on Dec. 3, 2025 found pit bulls actively mauling a 3-month-old infant and found both the infant and her 50-year-old grandfather, James Alexander Smith, deceased. A September 2026 NewsChannel 5 follow-up reported, citing detectives, that the infant was killed by the dogs while Smith died from health complications suffered while trying to protect his granddaughter. On September 16, Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott announced grand-jury indictments against three surviving adults related to the children in their custody. The criminal charges are allegations, not convictions.
Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott announced September 16, 2026 that a grand jury indicted the surviving adults in the home. Manchester Times reported that Zacchae Tiana Meshelle Smith, 27, was indicted for second-degree murder as a Class A felony and child abuse as a Class B felony; Sylvia Ann Smith, 70, was indicted on three Class A misdemeanor child-neglect counts; and Tilesia Nicoue Baugh, 33, was indicted on three Class A misdemeanor counts. All were scheduled for September 25 arraignments, and Northcott said the investigation remained ongoing. Earlier arrest-stage reporting used somewhat different charge descriptions and a different spelling of Smith’s first name; BiteDB preserves the September 16 indictment-stage description as the newer procedural record. Charges are allegations, not convictions, and BiteDB does not infer guilt.
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Primary record used by BiteDB
Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott said Tullahoma police were called to 905 E. Warren Street at about 3 p.m. Dec. 3, 2025 and arrived while pit bulls were actively mauling a 3-month-old infant. The district attorney identified the other decedent as 50-year-old James Alexander Smith. WSMV/Action News 5 independently relayed the same official account and reported that other dogs were removed from the property.
Open original source ↗Additional sources
- Action News 5 / WSMV — Man, 3-month-old granddaughter found dead after dog mauling in Tennessee — Additional reporting · 2025-12-04
- Tullahoma News — Three arrested in dog mauling case — Additional reporting · 2026-09-11
- NewsChannel 5 — Mother charged with murder months after deadly dog mauling killed baby, grandfather in Tenn. — Independent local follow-up reporting attributed to Tullahoma police/detectives · 2026-09-12
What BiteDB does not infer
Breed is recorded only at the provenance level shown above. Missing injury details, dog history, ownership facts or circumstances remain unknown unless a reliable source establishes them. This record may be updated as police, animal-control, medical, court or follow-up reporting becomes available.