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Man who tried to help neighbor during dog attack now charged in her death

Michael Lewis Williams, 61, of Detroit fired a gun in the animal's direction during the Oct. 9 attack but shot Patricia Ann Crosby, 55, who died of the injury.
Michael Williams, 61, of Detroit said he was trying to save his neighbor Oct. 9, 2017, from a vicious pit bull when his gun went off, accidentally killing the woman. (Photo: Hasan Dudar, Detroit Free Press)

A man trying to protect his neighbor from a dog attack is being criminally charged in her death.

Michael Lewis Williams, 61, of Detroit fired a gun in the animal's direction during the Oct. 9 attack but shot Patricia Ann Crosby, 55, who died of the injury.

Williams is being arraigned Friday in Michigan's 36th District Court on a charge of careless discharge of a weapon causing injury or death, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

After the shooting, Williams told the Free Press that he was outside his house when he saw his "screaming, terrified" neighbor waiving a scarf to ward off the canine.

As he stood between the woman and the dog, Williams said a gun in his left hand discharged. He said he wasn't aiming and doesn't know how the bullet hit his neighbor.

"What's going through my mind is 'I hate I was there and don't hate I was there,' " Williams said. "It just hurts when you're trying to help somebody and then they get hurt, trying to save their life."

After his neighbor was injured, Williams said he carried her to her porch and then went after the dog. He said he fired about two shots at the dog but failed to hit it.

The prosecutor's office put forth a different version of events Thursday: Williams ran after the dog, firing the two shots, but when he returned he discovered that Crosby sustained a gunshot wound, prosecutors said.

Crosby was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's officer said Crosby died of a gunshot wound to the left flank, the area of the body below the ribs and above the pelvis.

Follow Ann Zaniewski on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski

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