DETROIT (WXYZ) — On Monday night, family and friends came together to remember a young boy killed by a loose dog in Detroit.
Four-year-old Lovell Anderson was attacked by a dog while playing in his grandmother's fenced-in backyard. Police continue to investigate the case as the family held a candlelight vigil.
“Tonight is just about honoring my nephew," Lovell's aunt Monique Grant said. "Just honoring him and letting the community know we want something done about these stray dogs.”
A call to action and a call for change, a grieving family is finding strength in each other as they deal with the loss of the young 4-year-old.
“He loved family. He was such a character," Grant said. "Really like a little man.”
“We have some who have those older spirits — that’s baby Lovell,” cousin Connie Marshall said.
Described by many as an old soul, Lovell was deeply loved. He loved colors, Spider-Man and, above all, his family.
“He liked to open up the doors for the women in his family — his aunties, his grandmother," Marshall said. "He called himself the protector — at 4-years-old.”
Lovell was at his grandmother's house playing in the backyard last Wednesday when his family says a loose pit bull dug under the fence and attacked, dragging Lovell back to the other side. The young child was pronounced dead on scene.
Police are still investigating and have two dogs in custody but still haven't identified the dog or owner responsible.
“We should feel safe enough to walk down our streets, sit on our front porches, to allow our children to play in their own backyards, which are protected already for certain reasons," Marshall said. "And then this still happens.”
Marshall says she was attacked by a stray dog 10 years ago and is angered it’s still an issue in the city.
According to Detroit Animal Control, there have been 738 reported dog bites on animals and humans during the first nine months of 2023, 301 of which have been confirmed. While the city says confirmed dog bites have been trending down (438 in 2020 and 362 in 2022), reported dog bites have trended up.
“If there's one thing that could happen as a result of this tragic incident is that the city allocate appropriate resources so that this does not continue to be a problem,” the family's attorney Peter O'Toole of Fieger Law said.
As the family calls for justice, they say they don’t want a breed ban in the city. Instead, they call on owners to be more responsible and are asking people to report stray dogs.
“We are animal lovers... we don't want our tragedy to be a political campaign," Grant said. "This is our lives, this is our reality. We want something done about this.”
O'Toole says they’re still working to identify the owner. If that happens, that person could face criminal charges or the family could also take civil action.
