The owner of two large dogs that killed an 11-year-old boy was found guilty Friday of criminal negligence causing death.
Crystal MacDonald was on trial in Edmonton after Kache Grist was fatally attacked by her dogs at her Edmonton home in April, 2024.
Kache Grist is shown in a handout photo provided by his mother.Kendrah Wong/The Canadian Press
Court heard that MacDonald and the boy’s father, Wesley Grist, were roommates at the time of the attack. Kache, who lived in British Columbia, was visiting his father for spring break.
MacDonald testified that she repeatedly told Grist not to leave his son alone with the dogs and that she had plans to enroll the animals in specific training.
Court heard that an autopsy found the child died from a bite injury to the neck. The dogs were later euthanized.
Before the attack, the dogs had injured two people and killed other pets.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin said MacDonald was evasive and defensive in her testimony.
He also said she was cavalier in blaming others for the dogs’ behaviour and could have done more to protect the boy in her home.
MacDonald testified that she didn’t approve of the boy staying at her home after the dogs, each weighing more than 100 pounds, severely injured a woman in the backyard.
Tina Kelepouris had been mauled two months before Kache’s death. She spent four days in hospital with three broken ribs, a punctured lung and more than a dozen stitches all over her body.
The dogs, named Khaos and Kairo, killed a Pomeranian in the summer of 2023.
MacDonald and a tenant living in the basement of her home sustained leg injuries from the dogs in December of that year. The dogs also killed the tenant’s cat about two months later.
After the attack on Kelepouris, MacDonald said she knew the rules of the house needed to be “twice as strict.”
The dogs were to be left in their kennels when no one was home, she testified. No one else was allowed in the house with the dogs except Grist and two other people MacDonald trusted with them.
MacDonald said she was working to get dog training specifically for big breeds, with the possibility of a spot opening up for them in the coming months. An appointment was also lined up for Khaos, the more aggressive dog, to get neutered.
MacDonald said Grist showed up with his son at the house days after she said she wouldn’t allow it. She felt she had no other choice but to let the boy stay.
MacDonald said she told Grist repeatedly not to leave his son alone with the dogs. She also said that she showed the boy the scar on her leg from a dog bite and warned him that the dogs had killed two other animals and attacked Kelepouris.
MacDonald tried to book the dogs into a kennel while Kache was visiting, but the dogs didn’t have the required vaccination.
The boy’s father testified that he was in the garage when Kache was killed. He had allowed the boy to go inside to play with a new video game while Grist finished cleaning up tools.
Kairo, the calmer of the two dogs, was inside on the couch. Court heard Kache then let in Khaos from the backyard without permission.
Grist said he found his son lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor with the dogs surrounding him.
He said he knew about the dogs’ history but never saw any concerning behaviour around his son.