The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday that Lincoln Park resident Debralynn C. Holland, 29, has been charged with manslaughter under a “gross negligence theory.”
According to a statement Monday from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, Holland was charged because she knew the dog was dangerous and could harm Kyle. The dog was not in its cage while Kyle was sleeping. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is 15 years in prison.
Holland’s boyfriend, Earl Dwayne Adkins, 35, was charged with one count of dangerous animal death, which is treated similar to manslaughter. He was charged because he is the owner of the dog and also allegedly knew of the dangerous nature of the German shepherd/ Wolf hybrid.
Adkins also was charged with possession with intent to deliver/manufacture marijuana after police found about 15 marijuana plants in the house’s basement.
Adkins faces 15 years in prison for the first offense and four years for intent to manufacture marijuana.
Holland also was charged with second-degree child abuse for leaving Kyle in an unsafe home, and as an accessory after the fact for trying to get rid of the plants and giving false information to police. Those charges carry maximum penalties of four and five years, respectively.
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| Mother waited to call 911 b/c she was helping her boyfriend dispose of the marijuana plants before calling the police. |
Police expect Holland and Adkins to turn themselves in at 9 a.m. Wednesday, when they also are expected to be arraigned.
Another dog, a black Labrador retriever, also was in the house at the time. Worthy said the wolf hybrid was solely responsible for the attack. The dog was in the house, in the 1500 block of Empire, for protection. The fatal mauling happened 10 days after Holland and her son moved in with Adkins.
Holland found Kyle dead at about 9:30 a.m. July 12 . She called police at 10:09 a.m.
Both animals still are in quarantine at a shelter Downriver. Worthy said the animals are being kept alive for “legal reasons.”
Kyle’s cousin, Tiffany Dailey, runs a website dedicated to his memory at DeservedJustice.com. She and his extended family live in Maryville, Tenn.
“We’ve been lost; we feel like we can’t breathe,” Dailey, 37, said. “We want truth and we want justice, and I will not stop until he gets it. I will not quit. Kyle deserves justice.”
Kyle spent about six months of the year with his grandmother in Tennessee. He was small for his age and had to wear braces on his legs to help him walk.
Lincoln Park resident Deborah Henderson, a spokeswoman for Kyle’s family in Tennessee, said she reached out to them after he died to try to help.
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| The wolf hybrid ate part of his leg and his hip. |
“What this family wants is justice,” she said. “It’s as simple as that. It’s as cut and dried as that. They want justice (for) this helpless little boy who lost his life, and the charges speak to how he lost his life and who’s responsible.”
(News Herald - June 27, 2011)
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