Charges to be increased for owner of dogs that killed boy, injured girl

ATLANTA — A man whose dogs mauled two children, killing one, while the children were walking to their school bus now faces charges of involuntary manslaughter.%

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Cameron Tucker was arrested Tuesday after at least two of his dogs attacked and killed 5-year-old Logan Braatz and seriously injured Syari Sanders, 6.

Logan and Syari, students at F.L. Stanton Elementary School, were walking to a bus stop in southwest Atlanta when they were mauled, police and school officials said.

While the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office has not officially identified the children, relatives of the victims released names and photos to WSB-TV.

The children were taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston with serious injuries.

Logan, 6, was later taken to Grady Memorial Hospital's trauma unit, where he died. Syari is still at Egleston in stable condition on, Atlanta Public Schools spokeswoman Kimberly Willis Green said. Syari's family told WSB-TV she is alert and conscious.

"We're still trying to evaluate to figure out what really happened," Atlanta police Sgt. Warren Pickard said.

Police are certain that two dogs were involved in the deadly attack. The dogs' owner, Cameron Tucker, was arrested on two misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct, Pickard said. His first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

"Any additional charges will be determined by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office," he said.

Logan's uncle, Andy Brasley, told WSB-TV that the 6-year-old "was everything anyone would want in a child."

"He meant and still means the world to every single person he's ever touched in his life," Brasley said, "because all he ever wanted was to make a friend."

Other children were cornered by the dogs until a neighbor scared them away.

One of the children, 7-year-old Mason Williams, said one of the dogs bit onto the hood of his jacket before attacking his cousin Syari.

"I looked down, and I saw a brick," he said. "Then I picked it up, and that's when the dogs started running at me. And then (one of them) knocked me down."

Williams and the rescued children tried to help their friends.

"We had some brave kids," Pickard said. "Some kids ran back to the scene to try to pull the dogs off the children that were injured."

Area residents responded quickly to try to help Logan and Syari, too.

Angie Smith, a witness to the attack, said she ran to assist Syari. The girl was wearing a jacket and carrying a book bag, Smith said.

"I looked down at her to see what I could do for her," Smith said. "And when I looked at her, I knew that there was nothing I could do."

Shamonta Clayton, a neighbor of the children, said he woke up this morning to screams and ran outside to find the children in bad shape.

"As I get to the end of the street, I see (one) child's unconscious body laying in the middle of the street," Clayton said.

He noticed another dog and followed it, finding the children cornered near the porch.

"So I chased the dog away from the kids, and I noticed the second child, a little boy, his unconscious body laying down in the grass," Clayton said.

The dog circled back to the child, and Clayton said he chased the dog off with his gun.

"I picked the child's body up because his mom couldn’t do nothing but sit there and just cry," Clayton said.

Fulton County Animal Control officials said one of the dogs is a pit bull mix and the other a border collie. A third dog got away.

Fulton County Animal Control took one dog into custody. An officer shot and killed another dog, Pickard said.

"Our officers couldn't get control of it in a manner that he felt safe," he said. "So our policies and procedures allow us to act in that capacity."

Atlanta Public Schools sent a crisis team to Stanton Elementary to provide grief counseling for students and staff, Willis Green said.

Neighbors told WSB-TV that they've seen the dogs roaming the area before, but they hadn't attacked anyone. Witnesses said the dogs were not wearing collars.

A growing memorial now sits in the Atlanta neighborhood where Logan and Syari were attacked.

Audrey Washington, Sophia Choi and Nefertiti Jaquez contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group