Police say 30-year-old Vernon Foster left his 19-month-old son, Ryan Francis Foster, in the care of his other two children, ages 9 and 11, while he went to work.
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Authorities say their family dog, a Rottweiler described to have a history of aggression, turned on the toddler for an unknown reason.
Officers were dispatched to a first floor apartment on East 17th Street in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they found the young boy bleeding heavily and with multiple wounds to his body.
Investigators say after the attack, the boy's older brothers ran out of the apartment with the injured sibling looking for help.
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The child was rushed to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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Foster is facing charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
Foster's 11-year-old son was reportedly scared of the animal, as he was previously bit in 2019.
"It's a terrible situation," NYPD Assistant Chief Michael Kemper said. "Terrible situation for them and certainly for the family that is affected by this tragedy."
The two other children were not hurt.
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"Detectives from the 70th Precinct and Brooklyn South Homicide Squad are fully engaged in the investigation," Kemper said. "It's very active right now, pending a search warrant for the apartment, and we are working with the Kings County DA's Office right now in relation to charges."
The apartment and the dog are said to belong to the children's grandparents, who are out of the country. The boys' parents are not together, and the mother had left them in the care of their father.
The grandparents are the superintendents of the apartment building where the attack happened, and they reportedly had the dog for security, as they have been burglarized in the past.
The dog has been removed from the home, and the investigation into the incident continues.
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