DETROIT » Jurors have watched a video of a 4-year-old Detroit boy being mauled to death by pit bulls.

Prosecutors played the video today on the first day of trial for the owner, Geneke Lyons, who is charged with second-degree murder and other crimes. Some jurors cried after watching what happened outside a house last December.

Xavier Strickland was walking with his mother in Detroit when they were attacked by dogs. Police had to shoot the dogs to free the boy’s body. Three animals were killed; a fourth was euthanized.

When she filed charges, prosecutor Kym Worthy called the attack a “harrowing example of irresponsible pet ownership.”

Defense attorney Francisco Villarruel told jurors it was an awful accident, not a crime.