A man is facing charges including manslaughter after police say the family dog attacked and killed his toddler inside a Brooklyn apartment.
Thirty-year-old Vernon Foster of Brooklyn is also charged with criminally negligent homicide and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Police responded to a 911 call just before 11 p.m. at the apartment on East 17th Street near Cortelyou Road in Flatbush.
They found the 19-month-old boy bleeding heavily with several bite marks. He was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Police say the boy's father had left him alone with his siblings, who are 9 and 11 years old, so he could go to work.
The family dog, a Rottweiler, was taken to animal control.
"It's horrible, and you can imagine the responding officers, what they encountered," said Michael Kemper, commanding officer for NYPD Patrol Borough Brooklyn South. "It's a terrible situation, terrible situation for them and certainly for the family that's affected by this tragedy."
Police say the apartment belongs to the father's parents, who were out of town.
The other two children were not injured.