Owner faces sentencing in fatal dog attack on Detroit boy, 4

DETROIT – The owner of four pit bulls that killed a 4-year-old Detroit boy faces sentencing on an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

Geneke Lyons is scheduled to appear Thursday morning in Wayne County Circuit Court. He was found guilty earlier this month.

Xavier Strickland was walking with his mother in December when they were attacked by the dogs. Police had to shoot the animals to free the boy’s body.

Lyons wasn’t home at the time. But prosecutors said he should be held responsible because the dogs weren’t under control. The evidence included security video of the fatal mauling, which left some jurors in tears.

Defence attorney Francisco Villarruel told jurors it was an awful accident, not a crime.

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