Dog owner to face trial in boy’s fatal mauling

DETROIT — The murder case against a man who owned pit bulls that fatally mauled a 4-year-old Detroit boy last month will proceed to trial, a judge ruled Thursday.

At the conclusion of his preliminary exam that has spanned three days, Geneke Antonio Lyons, 41, was bound over to Wayne County Circuit Court on charges of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and possessing dangerous animals causing death.

His pit bulls pulled Xavier Strickland from his mother’s grasp on Dec. 2, dragged him underneath a fence and mauled him as the boy screamed for help from his mom, who was unable to stop the attack, according to previous testimony. Three of the dogs were shot and killed when police arrived and another was quarantined and later euthanized.

Murder charge follows fatal dog mauling of boy, 4

Francisco Villarruel, Lyons’ attorney, contended there was no evidence on the record to establish the murder charge and said “it’s a classic overcharge on the part of the people.”

Villarruel argued that his client was being charged for an accident and said no evidence was presented that he knew the dogs had gotten out before.

“This is a sorrowful day for the family of that young child,” he told the court. “But it’s an equally sorrowful day to be charged with murder, and to be facing murder in the second-degree, for something that you didn’t do.”

The prosecution countered the evidence shows the dogs were out “all the time,” they went after people, and Lyons was “fully aware of what was going on on his property.”

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Parisa Kiani said the pit bulls were guard dogs, adding they were a pack of vicious animals.

She said the violent dogs weren’t properly secured and the fence didn’t go to the ground, allowing the dogs to get out. There were three different areas with a gap of at least 6.5 inches, she pointed out.

“The fencing wasn’t about keeping those dogs in ... he maintained a fence to keep people out,” she said.

Lyons kept surveillance cameras, which recorded the mauling. The prosecution said that for about nine minutes, Xavier was being attacked by at least one dog, if not more, and suffered more than 90 puncture wounds and more than 300 abrasions to his body.

Lyons is scheduled to be arraigned in Wayne County Circuit Court on Jan. 14.