Thursday, 4:30 PM
Girl, 6, recalls gorilla attack
(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file)
Nina S. Scott, 6, recalled today how she was mauled by Little Joe, shown above in June.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
Wearing braids and a pink-colored plaid shirt, Nia S. Scott, 6, sat with confidence in the witness chair today and recalled being attacked by the 300-pound gorilla named Little Joe, answering most questions with a yes or no.
Scott, who was 2 years and 9 months old when the gorilla escaped from his enclosure at the Franklin Park Zoo, fidgeted on the stand and glanced occasionally at the jury in her civil lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court.
"He hit me," Scott said when asked to describe the attack. "Then he hit me with his claws. Then he dragged me and gave me stitches."
Scott, who testified for 18 minutes, received stitches in three places near her hairline, has scars on her legs where Little Joe grabbed her, and had needed some dental work because the gorilla "pushed up" her teeth.
"Were you crying?" her lawyer, Donald Gibson, asked.
"Yes," Scott said.
"Did you want your mom?"
"Yes," Scott said, adding that she was afraid that Little Joe would try to get her at the hospital.
The lawsuit by Scott's mother accuses zookeepers of failing to build a safe exhibition space for a gorilla that had nearly escaped in 1999 and had gotten free the month before the attack. Scott told the court today that she has nightmares of being dragged by Little Joe and is "still scared to sleep in my own room."
Kevin Kenneally, a lawyer representing Zoo New England, has suggested during the trial that officials did all they could to keep the public safe from the gorilla. During his cross examination today, Kenneally asked Scott whether anyone had reminded her what happened the day Little Joe attacked. She said no.
After Scott's mother takes the stand this afternoon, the plaintiffs are expected to rest their case.
