Owner of pit bull that mauled 9-year-old charged with felony assault after grand jury indictment

ALABAMA -- A Tuscaloosa County grand jury has indicted the owner of a pit bull that mauled a 9-year-old boy last month, charging him with two counts of assault and reckless endangerment. 

The child was attacked by a neighbor's pit bull as he walked home from school on April 1 and suffered serious injuries all over his body. He was airlifted to Children's of Alabama hospital in Birmingham, where he lost one ear and had to have the other surgically reattached.

The boy's family alleges that the same dog has bitten before, and sued the owner for negligence last month, but criminal charges were pending review by a grand jury.

Captain Gary Hood, the commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said the case was presented to the jurors on May 13. They returned a three-count indictment charging the dog's owner, 22-year-old Cristopher Kesean Guyton, with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.

Guyton was arrested at his home Thursday morning, Hood said, and was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail pending a $51,000 bond.

(AL.com - ‎May 28, 2015‎)

Earlier:

• Pit bull that attacked 9-year-old boy euthanized in Tuscaloosa
• Child attacked by pit bull recovering, family says this wasn't first attack