Jury Returns Verdict in Horrific Fatal Dog Mauling of Boy, 4

Detroit, MI — A Wayne County jury on Thursday found  the owner of a  pack of dogs that fatally mauled 4-year-old Xavier Strickland last December guilty of manslaughter and possessing dangerous animals.

Geneke Lyons had been charged with second-degree murder in the horrific case, in which the dogs ripped little Xavier from his mother’s grasp as she walked him to his Detroit elementary school on Dec. 2. 

But on Wednesday, Wayne County Circuit Judge James Callahan told jurors the prosecution hadn’t proven the elements of second-degree murder, and they could only consider the manslaughter and dangerous animals charges.

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Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy had mixed reaction to the verdict, The Detroit News reports.

“We are pleased with the jury verdict and are happy that they convicted the defendant on the highest charge after the judge dismissed the second-degree murder charge,” Worthy said. “We are disappointed however that Defendant Lyons remains on bond, and was not remanded to jail.”

During the week-long trial that began May 31, the jury heard emotional testimony from Xavier’s mother, Lucille Strickland, and viewed video of the violent, nine-minute-long attack that had been captured by Lyons’ home surveillance cameras.

Three of the four dogs were shot by police trying to save the boy, and the other was captured and euthanized. The dogs — two adults and two puppies — were all pit bull mixes.

Prosecutors said the dogs had been a known problem in the neighborhood, but Lyons' attorney called the boy’s death a tragic accident and said that if the dogs had been an issue, Lyons wasn’t told.

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In the end, though, the jury was swayed by testimony that Lyons hadn’t secured the dogs and by Lucille Strickland’s  account of the horrendous mauling.

She said three dogs grabbed her son, then dragged him under the gate into the backyard where Lyons kept them. A fourth dog joined in the attack that left the boy bleeding from 90 puncture wounds, authorities have said.

“The dogs grabbed his leg and started yanking him ... pulling him,” Strickland testified. “I was trying to pull back. I tried to have a tight grip. I just couldn’t. I could just grab a shoe. When they got to the gate, I was still trying to grab him.”

Strickland said Xavier’s last words were “Help me mommy,  help me mommy, help me.”