A funeral was held for 13-year-old Kenneth Santillan, who was walking with a friend home from school in Paterson last Friday when they were attacked by a 115-pound bull mastiff. The friend survived.
The dog, Trigger, has been euthanized, and its owner, Paul Clarke, issued two summonses.
It is the first-ever death from an animal attack in Paterson.
"I'm sorry for the parents that lost their kid, because if Trigger was in my hands, that would have never happened," the dog's previous owner, Patricia, said. "He would be alive and Trigger would too."
Patricia never met Santillan or his family, but she knows a lot about the dog that viciously killed the 8th grader.
"Everybody around here knew and loved Trigger," she said. "The seniors in the building, it's like he grew up with everybody here."
Patricia got Trigger when he was just eight weeks old, but when he got too big, she gave him to Clarke. Trigger was just 1.
The investigation is ongoing.
