His mother, Daisy Carranza, heard the 11-year-old screaming and ran into the alley.
"It is my son, and I can't let him die and I knew if the dog would get him, he was going to kill him, so I fought with everything I had to hold that dog from killing him and then killing my husband and then me, but it felt like forever," said Daisy Carranza.
The dog had ahold of Cipriano, so Daisy grabbed its collar and pried open its jaw.
"I couldn't even let the dog go. She was in a rage," Daisy said. "I put my hand in there. I opened it and I was holding her by the neck with the other hand. I just held her down and told him to run."
Daisy's husband, Bernie, ran outside, grabbed a shovel and beat the dog back as they behind their gate. That's when the dog attacked Latara Scott, 12, according to Daisy, and then another, older neighbor.
Daisy said she and other neighbors had been concerned about the dog for some time.
"We all know the dog hates kids. And [the owner] always said it. He was proud of it. 'My dog hates kids.' So the dog proved to us," she said.
A Chicago police officer arrived on the scene and fatally shot the dog. The owner's name has not been released, but he received three municipal ordinances for the dog bites, no proof of rabies vaccination, and not having a dog license.
Her physical wounds are beginning to heal, but Daisy said she's concerned for her son. He used to love dogs, she said.
"He is so confused. He has no words, he is not expressing well right now," Daisy said.
