THOMASVILLE — A Thomas County woman has lived for more than nine months with the memory of a five-year-old granddaughter who was killed by pit bulldogs.

“This has been a living nightmare,” said Shirley Peppers, whose granddaughter is buried in a Metcalf cemetery.

The child, Cheyenne Peppers, was killed on the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 5, at the Executive Drive home of her mother.

The dogs — a grown male, a grown female and a puppy — have been euthanized.

No charges have been brought in the case.

“The investigation is still in progress. They have not come to a conclusion yet,” police Sgt. Melven Johnson said Friday.

Johnson acknowledged it was confirmed the dogs killed the child.

“We’re just trying to do a thorough and complete investigation,” said Johnson, assistant commander of the Thomasville Police Department Criminal Investigations Division.

Police are working with district attorney’s office personnel to ensure there is enough evidence to take before a grand jury.

Peppers would like to see a community program in which “any dangerous dog” would be detected and publicly labeled as such.

She is disturbed by a sign she saw in a convenience store several months ago. The sign, on the store bulletin board, advertised pitbull puppies for sale.

Peppers’ son, David, is the little girl’s father. He wants someone to be held accountable in his daughter’s death.

Peppers and the child’s mother are divorced. “He was not the owner of the dogs,” Peppers’ mother explained.

The dogs belonged to the child’s mother and her live-in boyfriend.

“I would like to know what the facts were,” Ms. Peppers said. “I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

She asked that anyone who knows anything that could be helpful in the investigation contact the police department.

Cheyenne’s family cannot escape the nightmare.

“It’s bad,” Peppers said about family members’ emotional state.