Sep 6, 2007 12:11 am US/Central
Dad Charged With Manslaughter In Deadly Dog Attack
(WCCO)
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Seven-year-old Zachary King Junior went downstairs to play with the pit bull, named Face, when it attacked him. (File)
CBS
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office has filed felony charges against the father whose son was killed in August by the family's dog.
Seven-year-old Zachary King Junior went downstairs to play with the pit bull, named Face, when it attacked him. His dad feels what happened was a tragic accident, not a crime.
"That was my son's best friend really, besides us, the family, he played with the dog a lot," said Zach King, who has now been charged in the attack.
King said losing a child is the ultimate punishment for a parent.
"It's a tragedy in our family; I just lost my only son and now they're trying to press charges against me like I killed my son or something? It's not right," he said.
King feels that recent outrage about Michael Vick's dog fighting case is the reason the prosecutor is being too tough on him.
"Just because Michael Vick and all this pit bull stuff going on ... they want to make a big issue over it. I don't know what's going on," he said.
King points to scars he suffered fighting the dog after it killed his son. He shot the animal to death moments later.
"I'm here today to announce second degree manslaughter," said Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman.
Freeman was asked why he's pressing charges when the family suffered a tragic loss.
"And that's a good question and that's something we've struggled with," he said.
However, Freeman said the facts of this case meet the requirements of the law precisely, that an animal must be properly confined when it has a history of attacking people.
"It's also a message to all those who have pit bulls out there. If they've got them chained up and they've got kids running around, they don't mix," said Freeman.
The autopsy revealed, the pit bull bit Zach King Junior with such force, it severed a vertebra and that the child had a healed scar on his lip from an earlier bite.
The dog had bitten two other adults as well. If convicted, its likely King will receive probation, especially since he doesn't have a previous criminal record.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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