Kylar Johnson, 4-years old, fatal pit bull attack victim #329.
News Conference
UPDATE: 03/28/12: The Victoria Advocate released the 30-minute news conference given by Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O'Conner. In summary, investigators do have answers to many questions, but are not releasing them yet. The time of the boy's death has yet to be determined by the medical examiner's office. O'Conner does address many aspects of Kylar's death including that many "conspiracy theories" were formed and launched in social media channels.1
03/27/12: Preliminary Autopsy Results
Preliminary autopsy results indicate that Kylar Johnson was mauled to death by a single pit bull. Manuel (Manny) Garcia found Kylar's body in his backyard Monday morning near one of 10 pit bulls that he keeps chained up in his yard. Officials said Garcia's dogs were used for hog hunting. Investigators speculate that the boy may have been hiding from searchers on purpose, playing a type of game. The Click2Houston update did not reveal the time of the boy's death.2
03/27/12: Mauling Death Confirmed
KHOU.com reports that, "Evidence shows the child was mauled to death by a pit bull kept chained in the neighbor's yard. The Victoria County sheriff believes Kylar wondered into the mostly-fenced yard about half a mile from his home." The neighbor and owner of the pit bull, who joined in the search effort, has so far not been named and owns as many as 10 pit bulls. A new Victoria Advocate article says that preliminary autopsy results should be available by Tuesday.3
03/26/12: Boy Discovered Monday
Victoria, TX - In a developing story, the body of a missing 4-year old boy was discovered today and was reportedly mauled to death by pit bulls. The boy, Kylar Johnson, disappeared about 8 pm Sunday night. A neighbor found the boy about 10:30 am this morning. A family friend, Ken Hutchins, told The Victoria Advocate the boy was mauled to death by pit bulls kept in a neighbor's enclosure near his home. Police, however, have not yet confirmed the cause of death.
An extensive search was carried out over Sunday night and into the morning by police search teams, K-9 units, and family members, but it was hampered by tall grass and fog. The fog finally lifted about 10:30 am. The boy's body was found near Village Lane several hundred yards from his home. Cole Johnson, the boy's father, had been cleaning his car on Sunday with Kylar playing nearby. He looked up and Kylar was gone. The boy's family will speak to the media soon.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Texas Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.2A 4-year old played such a game all night long?
3The Click2Houston video shows that the dog owner is "pit bull in a barrel" breeder. Nice.
Related articles:
05/12/11: Texas Doctors Produce Study: Mortality, Mauling and Maiming by Vicious Dogs
09/19/10: Dog Attacks, Trends and Dog Law Coverage of Texas
Photo: KTRK-TV
41st Texan killed by a Pit Bull…Good thing the have a BSL-Pre-emptive State Law!
"We have a Pit Bull Problem…Houston"
Pity the child that finds his way into the yard of a "nanny dog"
I know 4-year-olds can move out..but a half a mile ??? I would like to get the address and see this on google maps.
How horrific!
How many more will it take before enough is enough. I am so sad for this child and their family and every other victim of pit bull attacks.
I was glad to see this site referenced in one article but in the next breath a nutter making excuses-http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Boy-killed-by-dog-at-Magnolia-area-home-2555327.php
In 2011, 71 percent of fatal dog attacks reported in the U.S. involved pit bulls, according to DogBite.org. Of those, seven fatalities were children 5 years or younger.
"Pit bulls are gentle dogs," said Donna Smith, a dog behaviorist from Houston.
Some pit bulls become aggressive because owners train them to behave that way, she said. "
"O'Connor said that when he went to the scene, the dogs appeared to be friendly. He said the dogs did not bark when investigators entered in the area."
Pit bulls (bred to fight or otherwise) are usually quiet on the chain and when they fight. A quiet pit bull hardly denotes friendliness. I pray the strike to the boy was lightening fast and that he did not suffer — lying in a field alone and dying.
3 sided fence with 5 hog doggin Pits staked out is like a screen door on a submarine….Useless!
Manuel (Manny) Garcia is quite the piece of work; tales of his "grandad" introducing him to pit bulls when he was a kid and brandishing his own pit bull tattoo. "Preserve the breed" comes to mind, and that isn't about hog hunting, it's about breeding fighting stock. Gotta wonder how many of his buddies (and other "gamedog" worshippers) are calling this boy's horrible death a "yard accident."
Seems odd, that there are legal requirements to have a fence around a pool to keep a wayward child from drowning in it…yet one can put up an inviting swing set and jungle gym, stake out ten "hogdoggin" pits and have a 3 sided-open fence.
I guess it wasn't foreseeable that a child would wander into such a set up….
Oh well, Hose the blood off the sidewalk and pump out another litter!
The pool equivalency is an excellent point. Why is it the pool owner's responsibility to keep trespassing children safe, but not the dog owner's responsiblity?
And there are myriad ordinances requiring general maintenance of a property aimed at public safety.
But with dogs, its 4 year old beware.
Interesting comment left at the Advocate:
I was one that volunteered in the search for kyler. I did it because I myself am medically trained and my wife was out there too as she is an emergency RN. We were there and out searching in the hopes that if we found him and he was injured we could immediately treat him and get him to saftey. When he was found, we were gathered at the staging area. I told a member of law enforcement I was a medic and my wife a nurse, and noticing ems wasn't present to let my wife and I help the boy. When he told me there wasn't much left to help I felt sick. And when another LEO said one or more pit bulls had gotten him I was devestated. I've seen a lot over my career as has my wife. But I couldn't even fathom what happened to that poor child. Fenced or not, that child saw a dog and didn't know that some dogs ( pit bulls ) could be dangerous, actually deadly in this case. I can't imagine what transpired in that yard nor do I want to. I treated a child who's family dog who had never been aggressive before almost tore his ear off. The grand father after making sure the child was going to be ok went back to the house and shot the dog. I agree that any dog has the potential to be aggressive. Even small dogs can be nasty. But I've seen a house in the county with a pit bull chained at all four points of the house. Soon after I had saw this said house was raided by the SWAT team due to drug activity. What were those dogs there for? I am a dog lover and have one of my own, she is trained very well but she is in my enclosed back yard behind a locked gate. I have no illusions that my trained dog is docile and would never bite anyone. Hence the fence she is behind. But should one Google pit bull attacks it would make for some interesting reading. My wife was attacked by a pit rotweiller mix. I wasn't home, had I have been I would have shot that dog. The owner told my wife "he won't hurt you" as he bit her and tried to jerk her to the ground. The dog was seized by animal control and he was cited for dog at large. But he got the dog back. There needs to be a Change mad to the law, no second chances. If a dog attacks someone or another animal in prevoked it needs to be destroyed. Maybe we can't ban specific breeds, how many other children need to be killed before we.can?