HAMTRAMCK, Mich. -- Police said a 6-year-old girl was mauled to death by two pit bulls outside a Hamtramck home Monday morning.

The girl's family was in the process of moving from their home on Belmont Street to a house one block away when the family's dogs somehow broke loose and attacked the girl, police said.

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Neighbors, Family React To Fatal Dog Attack

Neighbors said they heard the pit bulls barking, the girl crying, and the child's mother screaming.

"She was beating on the door trying to get some help from anybody," said a woman who lives in the area.

Neighbors then reported hearing several shots.

Police responding to the scene distracted the dogs, but were forced to shoot and kill the pit bulls after they lunged at officers, according to Local 4 reports.

The girl's cousin, Renaisa Chaney, said the child's death is the second loss the family has recently suffered.

"The messed up part about it is (the girl's) father passed not too long ago, so for her mother to go through something else like this again, it just really hurts everybody," Chaney said.

The Michigan State Police taped off the area as the child's body remained at the scene at about noon, according to the station's reports.