California boy, 9, mauled to death by sister's pit bulls
LINDA, Calif. -- A 9-year-old boy was mauled to death while he was home alone in a trailer, Yuba County Sheriff's investigators said on Monday.
The boy's 24-year-old sister was in charge of watching him, but left him alone with her three pit bulls, reports CBS Sacramento.
Alexandria Griffin-Heady remains under investigation as she copes with the brutal death of Tyler Trammell Huston.
Neighbors in the quiet Linda neighborhood say Griffin-Heady recently moved into the small trailer, wanting to better her life and eventually pull her little brother out of the foster system.
In one picture, she's cuddling with her three pit bulls, and in another she's hugging her brother. But what looked happy on the outside was complicated, the boy's uncle said.
"With the circumstances of Ally not being mature enough, not able to handle a 9-year-old," Donald Thorpe said. "She's just barely 24 herself."
He says Tyler lived a hard life, moving in and out of foster homes after his mom died of a drug overdose homeless on the streets of Sacramento.
Thorpe says Tyler's sister recently moved to the trailer from Florida and got approved for weekend visits, with the goal of later adopting Tyler.
Then Sunday morning came.
Investigators say Griffin-Heady left for work and returned to find little brother mauled to death by her pit bulls.
The woman next door identified herself as her adoptive mom and said Griffin-Heady changed her life for Tyler.
Griffin-Heady was too distraught to come out of her trailer on Monday, but investigators say she is cooperating and may face child endangerment charges.
The details don't sit well with undersheriff Jerry Read.
"I don't know. This one seems to have affected me most," he said. "The child being home alone and just had to have been terrified of what took place."
The pit bulls were taken from the trailer by animal services and will likely be euthanized.