‘They were both right on top of me’: Man testifies about attacks with dogs that later killed boy

The criminal negligence trial is underway for the woman whose dogs killed 11-year-old Kache Grist in 2024. CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Weisberg reports.

A trial started Monday for the owner of two dogs that killed an 11-year-old boy from B.C.

Crystal MacDonald, 46, pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal negligence as the keeper of the dogs that caused the death of the boy.

Kache Grist was visiting his dad, who was living in the same home as MacDonald, when the deadly attack happened in April 2024.

In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard Grist’s cause of death was a dog bite injury to the neck.

The dogs, were healthy, un-neutered two-year-old Cane Corsos. One weighed 109 lbs, the other 124 lbs.

The Crown prosecutor told the court he would present evidence during the trial of concerning previous incidents involving the dogs that put the events leading to the boy’s death into context.

He cited at least five prior incidents with dogs – some involving other animals – some involving people.

Former roommate testifies about incidents

The Crown’s first witness was Jesse Woodruff who lived in a basement suite inside MacDonald’s home between October 2023 and the beginning of March 2024.

Woodruff told the court he was introduced to MacDonald through a co-worker and he had a cat named Molly.

The Crown asked about his first interactions with MacDonald’s dogs named Chaos and Cairo.

He described the dogs as “rambunctious but friendly”.

He said it eventually started to grow to where he was no longer comfortable with the dogs.

When asked why, he replied “The aggression, the level of disobedience to listening to commands.”

He said the dogs’ size and because they were “jumpy” he grew hesitant of them.

Woodruff told the court MacDonald told him they were taught to jump up on people to give hugs but by the time he moved in it was something she was trying to “unteach”.

The Crown asked if MacDonald ever used commands to get the dogs to stop jumping on him.

“It worked occasionally,” Woodruff said adding when it didn’t she sometimes grabbed them by the collar, slapped them or put them outside in the yard.

He said Chaos was more difficult to remove from situations because it was the stronger of the two dogs.

He said the dogs spent a good amount of time in the yard and when inside one would often be kept in a metal crate on the main floor.

The Crown then asked Woodruff about an incident in December 2023.

Woodruff recalled arriving home with a friend and went upstairs to have drinks with MacDonald and her friends. After a period of time, Woodruff said he let his guard down a little bit and got on the floor playing with the dogs.

“It escalated very quickly,” he said.

Woodruff said he rolled onto his stomach to protect his head. “They were both right on top of me.”

He said he called for help and that MacDonald and his friend dragged the dogs off of him.

“I looked at my leg and I saw muscle coming out of my leg and I started screaming that I needed to go to the hospital,” Woodruff told the court.

He said the wound on his leg required six stitches and antibiotics.

“I brushed it off as me not being responsible,” he said of the incident but added there was a discussion with MacDonald about getting extra training for the dogs and a second kennel.

Then the Crown prosecutor’s questioning turned to another incident in February 2024.

“My cat Molly was unfortunately killed by the two dogs,” said Woodruff.

He told the court he had friends over the night prior in his basement suite. After walking one of them out of the house that morning – he stopped to chat with another person living in the home named Wes Grist.

Woodruff said the dogs were in the living room and as he went to enter his suite in the basement the dogs got past him and inside and his cat then ran up the stairs. He said Chaos followed his cat and got hold of its head in his mouth.

The court heard Woodruff and Grist were punching the dog to get it to let go of the cat.

“I was in the car within a minute to get her to the vet down the road where I was told she’d already passed,” said Woodruff.

MacDonald wasn’t home at the time but Woodruff said he contacted her saying he’d be calling the police and he’d be moving out.

He said she gave him a half-hearted apology but said she didn’t want the police involved.

During cross examination, MacDonald’s lawyer argued she had warned Woodruff about the importance of keeping the cat away from the dogs and had told him about a previous incident where they had killed a small dog.

Woodruff couldn’t recall if she had told him about that incident.

The defence also questioned Woodruff about his level of intoxication the night he suffered a bite.

“Had I not been drinking I probably wouldn’t have been on the floor with them,” Woodruff said.

The defence pointed out pointed out several discrepancies between what Woodruff told the court, police in previous statements and hospital staff.

He agreed when asked if he told the hospital staff the dogs weren’t being aggressive at the time and agreed when the defence asked if his view of the incident has changed since then.

The trial continues on Tuesday.