• By KORAN ADDO
• Published: Apr 13, 2009 - UPDATED: 5 p.m.

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NEW ROADS — A Pointe Coupee Sheriff’s deputy caring for his fiancée’s three boxers let the dogs out of their kennels Friday moments before the dogs ran next door and fatally mauled a 4-year-old boy, 18th Judicial District Attorney Ricky Ward said after a press conference Monday.

At the news conference, Ward said he had not decided yet whether to file criminal charges against deputy Rob Roy, of New Roads, or the dogs’ owner, Candace Wells, of Morganza.

Sheriff Beauregard “Bud” Torres said Roy has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by Louisiana State Police.

Ward called Friday’s incident, in which Michael Landry was attacked in the yard of his home, “one of the most tragic incidents” in his 18 years as district attorney.

Ward said his only option as a prosecutor would be to file a negligent homicide charge, which would require establishing that the child’s death was a result of gross negligence — defined as a “gross deviation of normal standards of care.”

Ward said he will wait until the State Police finish their investigation before deciding how to proceed with the case.

The three dogs were let loose while their kennels were being cleaned, Capt. Steve Juge of the Sheriff’s Office has said.

The dogs slipped through a barbed-wire fence into the Landry’s yard, where one or more of the dogs fatally mauled Michael.

The youngster was airlifted to Pointe Coupee General Hospital, where he died from his injuries Friday evening.

The dogs have been impounded, but their fate has not yet been decided. The Police Jury, which will make that decision, holds its next regular meeting Tuesday at 5 p.m.

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NEW ROADS — Investigators have not yet determined whether the owner of the dogs that fatally mauled a 4-year-old boy, or her fiancé, a Pointe Coupee Parish sheriff’s deputy, let the three boxers out of their kennels before the attack, Sheriff Beauregard “Bud” Torres said at a news conference today.

And at the same news conference, 18th Judicial District Attorney Ricky Ward he hasn’t decided yet whether to file criminal charges against the owner, Candace Wells, or her fiancé, Rob Roy.