Fla. man convicted in death of boy, 7, mauled by his dogs

PANAMA CITY, Fla. Jurors have found a Florida Panhandle man guilty of manslaughter after his 7-year-old neighbor was mauled by his dogs.

It took the jury about two hours Thursday to return the verdict against Edward Daniels.

The News Herald of Panama City reports jurors found that Daniels neglected to contain his dogs on the day they got loose. He was found not guilty of tampering with evidence for washing blood from one of the dogs after the attack.

Daniels testified he didn't know what had happened when he washed Tyler's blood off that day, the newspaper says, adding, "He'd heard a gunshot moments earlier and believed one of his neighbors had followed through on a threat to kill his dogs, so he washed away the blood looking for injuries. Only later did he learn what Fat Boy and M.J. had done."

The paper quotes Daniels as saying, "I felt bad. I was surprised by it. I didn't think my dogs would do something like that."

But, the newspaper reports, "His neighbors said they'd warned him so often that he should have known, and the jury agreed."

Tyler Jett died in April, a week after he was attacked by two dogs while riding his bicycle.

Daniels, who has no previous criminal history, faces 15 years in prison when he's sentenced on Oct. 14.