Mom of boy killed by pit bulls says family was attacked before
DETROIT - Four-year-old Xaiver Strickland never had a chance.
The little boy was walking with his mother when pit bulls attacked him. Now the owner is under arrest and could face charges of negligent homicide.
The mother told police it isn't the first time these same animals attacked her family.
"I didn't think anything like this would ever happen," said Lucille Strickland, Xaiver's mom.
"They can get out and there's nothing you can do after that," said neighbor Nathaniel Johnson.
"They bum-rushed me and my son," Strickland said. "And I fell on top of him. They were biting me. As I was getting up I had him like this (close to her chest) and the dogs just snatched him from me."
Xavier was mauled to death by a family of pit bulls as he and his mom walked along the sidewalk.
The yard the dogs were in had a fence roughly 8 inches off the ground - just big enough for three pit bulls to get out and drag the 4-year-old back in."
"I've seen it with my own eyes," Strickland said. "That will never leave me eyes, that will never leave my mind. No one knows the torment I go through, waking up screaming his name."
Strickland says this isn't the first time these same dogs attacked her family. Just two weeks ago, Xaiver's sister was bit.
"My daughter hit him with a stick and they got away," she said.
She says she called animal control, but now she's calling for more drastic action.
"Ban pit bulls period," she said. "Any vicious dogs need to be banned. They shouldn't be allowed."
She may not get her wish. In October, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that would not allow cities to restrict any dog based solely on breed.
In other words what you about one dog goes for all dogs. As for the owner of the pit bulls...
"He needs to be (in) jail," Strickland said.
No charges have been filed yet against the owner of the pit bulls, but he was arrested for negligent homicide.
The Strickland family has a GoFundMe account to help pay for the funeral. CLICK HERE.