Owner of dogs who mauled 6-year-old to death, critically hurt 5-year-old charged with manslaughter

ATLANTA, Georgia -- The owner of two dogs who mauled a young boy to death and critically injured a young girl has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Cameron Tucker was given a straight $70,000 bond.

Atlanta police said the dogs attacked the children Tuesday morning, January 17th while they were on their way to the school bus stop.

Family members told CBS46 six-year-old Logan Braatz was killed in the attack. Five-year-old Syrai Sanders was critically hurt.

The mother of the six-year-old boy spoke with raw emotion as she explained how she's coming to grips with the loss of her son.

"He's got an older brother who is special needs and it's hard for him right now to understand that his brother is gone," Logan's mother, Angelica said.

She told CBS46 she heard the screams of children on their way to the bus stop.

"We heard screaming from the house and everybody came running," she said. "I saw the one child laying on the ground and then everybody still trying to find the other kids."

She said while helping others, she was trying to find Logan, but by the time she did, it was too late.

"Back here behind the house is where I found him," she said.

"When I got down there, the dog at the time was mauling on my great niece and she wasn't moving or nothing," said Tamiko Williams, a relative of Syrai's.

Williams and other adults ran to the scene to help. They had sticks and bats to try to get the animals away.

"The dogs was still chasing everybody. There was nothing we could do because they kept coming back, kept coming back," Williams said.

The owner of the dogs was taken away by police officers in the back of a patrol car and police processed the man's house.

Cameron Tucker was in court Wednesday morning and besides the misdemeanor charges he was facing, felony involuntary manslaughter was also added to the list.

According to Atlanta Public Schools officials, the children involved were students at F.L. Stanton Elementary School.

"It's been a terrible loss," said Logan's grandfather, Bryant Braatz. "Very outgoing. He was the kindest soul you'd ever meet. He'd do anything for any other little kid."

Video from CBS46's helicopter showed a dog sitting in a driveway while police waited by their patrol car. A dog at another home nearby, which police said was involved, sat on the porch while police waited nearby. Items littered the ground near the scene.

A CBS46 camera crew at the scene captured video of officers surrounding one of the dogs. When the dog tried to get away, an officer fired shots at the dog. The dog was hit, but ran off and was later captured, police said.

Animal control officers later took the dogs into custody.

Investigators were trying to determine whether a third dog, perhaps a stray, was involved in the mauling.

Animal control officials described the dogs as pit bull mixes. They were being held at animal control while the investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, CBS46 talked with dog trainer Angie Woods about what makes a dog attack. She said it can be from several reasons, including excitement, fear and even dominance. Woods also said dog owners have the responsibility to keep their dogs under control.

"No dog should be running free. We're in America. We're not in a third world country. We know that we have laws and it's our responsibility to control our dogs," said Woods. "We all have a right to walk to school and take a walk with our dogs and to enjoy ourselves outside and not be accosted by somebody's animal."

Woods also said if a dog tried attacking you, your best escape route is to jump on top of something tall, like a vehicle.

According to the CDC, more than four million dog bite incidents occur each year.

Of those attacks, 800,000 people will have to go to the hospital and half of those are children. According to dogsbite.org, a non-profit group that tracks dog attacks, more than 300 people were killed by dogs in the years 2005 through 2015.

Pit bulls contributed to 64 percent of those deaths.