A 4-year old boy in Detroit was tragically killed by one or possibly two dogs while outside playing in his backyard.
The child, who was later identified as Lovell Anderson, had been having a normal day wile playing in his backyard around 3 p.m. in the 9300 block of Pierson on Detroit’s northwest side, when he was suddenly attacked.
Corporal Dan Donakowski said, “We’re not sure if it’s one or two dogs, but Animal Control has two dogs in custody. The dogs were pit bulls or pit bull mixes. It’s believed that the dogs belonged to a neighbor, but as far as how it happened, we’re unsure at this time.”
The deceased child’s aunt said she believed that the neighbor’s dog had managed to grab her nephew through a gap in the fenced-off backyard and pulled the boy to the other side before brutally attacking him.
Anderson’s family claim he was being watched by his grandmother at the time of the accident and that his parents were not home. They also added that one of the dogs being held belonged to the boy’s grandmother, but it was not involved in the attack.
Lovell’s aunt Monique Grant remembered her nephew by saying, “He was just full of life.” Meanwhile, Lovell’s other aunt, Maple Blackshear recalled him being the sweetest boy who acted like a little gentleman.
“My sister is truly distraught right now, at this moment,” one of Anderson’s aunts told news media. “This is a very sad situation. As we know in Detroit, pit bulls are a big problem when you don’t have them trained properly, or tied up, or put in a gate that is secured properly.”
The Detroit Police Department echoed her sentiments at the press conference, encouraging people to secure their dogs so that a tragedy like this doesn’t happen again.
“The loss of a child who hasn’t really started their life is just something huge that nobody can really even fathom,” Police Cmdr. Arnold Williams said during the press conference.
“This reminds everybody, if you do have a dog to secure your dog to make sure your dog can’t get out,” Williams added. “That’s the most important thing.”
