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Father Tried for Manslaughter After Pit Bull Kills Son

Father Found Not Guilty
UPDATE 04/11/08: A judge has ruled that a Minneapolis father is not guilty for the death of his son who was mauled by a family dog. Zachary King Senior was found not guilty of a second degree manslaughter charge. The ruling came in Friday around 10:30 a.m.

03/20/08: Zachary King Sr, Tears Up
In a Hennepin County courtroom, Zachary King Senior described how the family dog mauled his son to death. King broke down in tears several times, and at one point he buried his face in a tissue and cried as he explained what happened the day of the tragedy.

King's defense lawyer, Craig Cascarano, chimed in: "His position was made perfectly clear in his testimony that this was an accident, only an accident ... it could never have been predicted," said Craig Cascarano, defense attorney.

Mike Freeman, Hennepin Co. Attorney countered by saying, "It was well known that this dog was dangerous ... it had bitten seven people previously, including Zach Junior."

King waived his right to a jury trial. So a judge will issue a verdict in a few weeks. If convicted, King faces probation -- not jail time.

03/17/08: Zachary King Jr, Fatally Attacked by Family Pit Bull
Minneapolis, MN - Zachary King Jr. was killed by his family's pit bull last year. The elder King is being tried on charges of second-degree manslaughter in his death. Prosecutors say the dog had bitten people seven times previously and that King knew it had a propensity for vicious behavior. Prosecution's opening statements were chilling:

Zachary King Sr. kept a pit bull named Face as a "wild animal being confined in this basement in the worst of conditions." When King's 7-year-old son, Zachary King Jr., went down into the basement Aug. 16, he was subjected to a "violent, vicious, brutal attack."

Assistant Hennepin County Prosecutor, Amy Sweasy, said King kept the dog muzzled or tied up when strangers were at the house, but it was allowed to run free among family members. The fatal attack was "totally, completely avoidable and preventable," she said.

Sweasy said witnesses would testify that in the 17 hours before the attack, the dog was treated inhumanely, leashed to a pole in the basement of the family home and deprived of food, exercise, water or a chance to relieve itself outdoors. Police and animal control officers found the dog, still tethered by its leash to a pipe in the basement, dead, surrounded by a pool of blood and feces.

King had shot the dog after his son was attacked. Nearby was a hole in a Sheetrock wall with blood smears around it. Minneapolis homicide Sgt. Nancy Dunlap said she thought the hole was caused by "Zach Jr.'s head." The final coroner report found that the boy died of blood loss and asphyxia associated with puncture wounds and lacerations on his neck.

King's attorney, Craig Cascarano, said Zachary's death was "a terrible, terrible accident," but not a crime. He said the fatal attack was an unpredictable bite by the family dog. The dog may have bitten folks before, but never like this. He added that when the family got the dog as a puppy about three years before the attack, little Zach adopted that dog as his dog.

"This is a family dog," he told the judge. "This is a family dog that protected the home. This is a family that could never anticipate a thing like this."