Vernon Foster was arrested and charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after his 19-month-old son, Ryan Francis Foster, was mauled to death by the family’s rottweiler on August 10.
CBS News reported Foster had left Ryan home in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his older siblings, who are 9 and 11-years-old, while he went to work.
Neighbors heard the two buys screaming for help as the dog attacked their little brother. One neighbor said that the boys ran outside yelling that Ryan was dying around 10:40 p.m.
“Help me! Help me! My brother is dying!”
Several people ran to help the boys before the police arrived and carried the boy to an ambulance. The police said that upon their arrival, Ryan was bleeding and had multiple lacerations from the Rottweiler to his neck and shoulder, which proved fatal.
“When the officers arrived here, they went to an apartment on the first floor. They encountered a child with multiple wounds to his body, bleeding heavily,” said Commanding Officer Michael Kemper.
Ryan’s mom, Susan Hyre, was no longer with Foster and had primary custody. However, the two had a visitation agreement, and it was Foster’s time with the children. Neighbor Ingrid Araque said that she had never seen the dog act aggressively on walks, but Hyre noted the dog, named Buster, had once attacked her oldest boy back in 2019. Buster was usually kept at Foster’s parents’ residence when he had his boys. She does not know why the children were at the Foster’s parents’ apartment. His parents were out of town at the time of the attack. Hyre said she is heartbroken.
“He was my miracle baby. I never thought I would have children again because I had a very complicated pregnancy,” said Hyre. “The fact that he was even here, and that he was so perfect, and he was taken away from me like this … I just feel so numb. I don’t know what to do with myself right now.”
Buster was taken by Animal Control and Care. Foster, 30, was also charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child.
