‘We were best friends’: Father of boy killed by dogs testifies in owner’s trial
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EDMONTON – Wesley Grist first heard the dogs in the kitchen, and he could tell the rowdy animals had made a mess, but he didn’t expect to find his son lying in a pool of blood.
“I saw a mess on the floor, and I didn’t know what I was looking at,” the 43-year-old said Thursday at the trial of the dogs’ owner, Crystal MacDonald.
MacDonald has pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing the death of 11-year-old Kache Grist, who was attacked by her two Cane Corsos at her Edmonton home in April 2024.
Wesley Grist testified that he was MacDonald’s roommate at the time, fixing things around the house and paying her money when he could. His son, who lived in British Columbia, was visiting him for spring break.
“We were best friends,” Grist said about his relationship with his son, adding that he was excited to have Kache visit for a week.
He said MacDonald and Kache were also close. The boy called her aunty.
On the day of the mauling, Grist said he was working on a car in the garage and Kache asked if he could go inside to play with his new video game. MacDonald wasn’t home.
Grist testified that one of dogs, named Kairo, was inside on a couch, while the other, Khaos, was in the backyard.
Grist gave his son permission to go inside but told him to “stay ready,” as a friend was going to pick them up so he could buy plumbing supplies.
After Grist finished cleaning his tools, he went inside and found Kache on the floor with the dogs surrounding him.
He ran to grab his son, he said, and one dog seized onto the boy’s pant leg and tried to pull him out of Grist’s arms.
“I punched and kicked the dogs and threw them outside the door,” Grist said through tears.
“I ran back to Kache and started calling 911. But I couldn’t do it because, you know, I just couldn’t get my fingers to do what they were supposed to.”
The friend then came in the front door. Grist said her jaw dropped when she saw he was covered “head to toe” in his son’s blood.
First responders soon arrived and brought Grist upstairs while paramedics worked to revive Kache. The boy was declared dead at the scene.
Court has heard that an autopsy found the child died from a bite injury to the neck. The dogs were later euthanized.
Video from the day of the attack was played in court Wednesday. The footage, captured from a camera on a neighbour’s deck, showed only the backyard, but Kache can be heard letting one of the dogs into the house.
Muffled barks can be heard, then later the sound of Grist repeatedly screaming, “No!” and “Oh my God!”
The trial was previously told that the dogs, which weighed more than 100 pounds each, had a history of attacking people and other animals.
One of MacDonald’s friends, Tina Kelepouris, testified that she was mauled by the dogs in the backyard. She was hospitalized for four days with three broken ribs, a punctured lung and more than a dozen stitches all over her body.
One of MacDonald’s former employers testified that the dogs killed his Pomeranian in July 2023. The trial also heard that the dogs bit and scratched a man who lived in the basement suite in McDonald’s home in December 2023 and killed his cat about two months later.
Grist knew about the dogs’ history but said he never saw any concerning behaviour around his son.
“I had known the dogs long enough … they weren’t like that.”
Grist described Kairo as a “sweetheart” and the calmer one of the two, while Khoas “wasn’t a mean dog, he was just like a bull in a china shop.”
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Evan McIntyre questioned whether MacDonald told Grist not to leave his son alone with the dogs.
Grist said MacDonald warned him and he had left Kache alone with the dogs a couple times for short periods.
“I wouldn’t have him there if I had any concerns,” Grist said.
A police officer who responded to the scene testified that he spoke to MacDonald on her driveway.
“I told him, I told Wesley not to let the dogs near Kache,” Const. Matthew Homulous recounted of his conversation with her.
The Crown wrapped up its case Thursday and the trial is scheduled to continue Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2026.