Dog owner who abused a 9-year-old girl accused of murder

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DETROIT (CNN) – The owner of three dogs who killed a nine-year-old Detroit girl this week was charged with second-degree murder, the prosecutor's office said.

Pierre Cleveland, 33, has also been charged with manslaughter and dangerous animal causing death, the Wayne County Attorney's Office announced in a statement.

Emma Hernandez was cycling near her home, southwest of Detroit, when she was attacked by three pit bulls roaming free. She was transported to the hospital but died as a result of her injuries.

Cleveland, a neighbor of the victim, reportedly "left the dogs he knew were dangerous, badly tied and unsafe" in his yard as he went to a store, the county attorney's office said Thursday of Wayne in a press release.

"It is horrible to imagine what Emma experienced when she was mutilated to death by vicious dogs allegedly belonging to the accused," said prosecutor Kym Worthy. "It is high time that the city of Detroit shines the spotlight on the owners of these dangerous animals that sometimes roam and wreak havoc – nothing worse than what happened here."

Investigators discovered that the fence of the yard was "damaged and unsecured", and that a side door of the garage leading to the alley where the attack had occurred was open.

Cleveland has not yet appointed lawyer, said a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office.

The witnesses tried to repel the dogs. One of them threw them bricks and another shot them, Detroit police said.