The 24-year-old sister of the nine-year-old boy who was killed Sunday in Yuba County by her three pit bulls spoke to the media Monday evening and is shattered by the death. She takes responsibility for the tragedy, telling Sacramento station FOX 40, "I failed him, whether it's my fault, my dogs' fault, whoever's fault. I wanted to protect him, and I wanted to give him an amazing life."

Alexandria Griffin-Heady told reporters that her brother, Tyler Griffin-Huston, loved the dogs, "he laid in the bed with them. He played with them. He wanted one of their puppies." The three pit bulls, who all lived with her in a trailer in the town of Linda, were left alone with the boy for three hours Sunday morning while she had to go to work. The boy, who was in the foster care system following their mother's death in 2011, was spending the weekend with her and was living with foster parents in Elk Grove.

The Sacramento Bee spoke to the foster mother, who said after hearing the news, "To die like that, it was just horrific. When Child Protective Services called me, I just screamed." She said she was hesitant about letting the boy go stay with the sister, but had been at peace with it because he was happy to have close family living nearby. A judge was set to decide if Griffin-Heady could become his full-time guardian, provided she got an apartment.

The exact circumstances surrounding the mauling will never be known. Griffin-Heady guesses the boy "got up to go to the bathroom," and maybe the dogs wouldn't let him leave the trailer to do so, but she can't be sure. A report yesterday suggested that two of the dogs, who were the year-and-a-half-old offspring of the other, four-year-old female, had been kenneled when Griffin-Heady left the home.

The investigation is ongoing, but criminal proceedings sound unlikely since the dogs did not appear to have any previous record of being dangerous. "We’re always mad when something terrible happens," says criminal law professor Michael Vitiellobut to the Bee. "That doesn’t mean someone is liable in a criminal way."

It is likely that all three dogs will be put be put down, though investigators have said that only two of the dogs showed clear blood on their muzzles. Griffin-Heady says she understands, and that Tyler's life was "more important."

"His only wish for Christmas was to have a mom," she said, tragically. "I so badly wanted to be that person for him."

Previously: Nine-Year-Old Boy Mauled And Killed By Sister's Three Dogs