He entered the world one day after his mother’s birthday. And for the next six years, Logan Bryant Braatz was nothing less than a gift, his family said.
“If you ever met Logan, you never forgot Logan,” the boy’s grandmother, Reba Whitehead, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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He was compassionate and giving, willing to help his mother or an older brother with autism. When a family member was ill, Logan spent two hours filling her bedroom with balloons, with help from his uncle. He hadn’t yet learned to play the guitar he got for Christmas, but that didn’t stop him from singing along to Josh Turner, a country singer known for his deep baritone.
Whitehead sat staring quietly Saturday afternoon at her grandson, dressed in a suede suit and tie, inside a red casket draped with white lace at a Gwinnett County funeral home. “Nanny” still struggles to believe Logan is gone.
As he had done so many times, Logan left his Gideons Drive house Tuesday morning to walk to the school bus stop. Children from other houses on the southwest Atlanta street followed, and a handful of adults rode herd for the half-mile walk to the bus stop. From there, the bus would head to F.L. Stanton Elementary School, where Logan was in kindergarten.
But on Tuesday, none of the children made it as far as the bus stop. Three large dogs were running toward the group of children, sparking immediate panic. These weren’t familiar dogs, and there were no pet owners calling for them to return.
Deandre Williams, a self-appointed babysitter for neighborhood kids, was walking with children when the dogs approached. He hurried a group of them to the porch of an abandoned home, telling the scared children to run. Logan was running, and a 5-year-old friend, Syari Sanders, was also trying desperately to get away amid screams from everyone outside.
Williams tried to account for all of the children, but had a horrifying realization.
“I was missing a child,” Williams said.
It was Logan.
The screams quickly brought other neighbors outside, including Shamonta Clayton. First, Clayton saw little Syari in the street, her face and head badly injured. Then, Clayton followed a dog behind a home, where he saw children huddled on the porch, trying to protect themselves. He chased the dog away.
Then, Clayton saw Logan lying in the grass.
“The dog tried to get back to him,” Clayton said. “I chased the dog off with my gun.”
Logan wasn’t moving, and his mother was beside him, crying helplessly. The dog had attacked Logan’s chest and face, ripping through his skin as though it were paper. The little boy was bleeding profusely as Clayton picked him up and carried him to an ambulance.
At the hospital, Logan was pronounced dead, his injuries too severe to overcome. Syari, 5, was seriously injured and required emergency surgery the same day, but survived the attack. She is expected to remain in the hospital a month for additional surgeries, according to her grandmother.
Back on Gideons Drive, the horrific string of events continued. Several police and animal control officers had arrived to pick up the two dogs involved, described as a pit-bull mix and a border collie. The man believed to own the dogs, Cameron Tucker, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. There had been a third dog, neighbors said, but it had not been involved in the attack. On Friday, the third dog was picked up after it was seen wandering outside once again.
Seated between his family’s two attorneys, Andie Brasley kept his composure Friday as he described his nephew, his very own “mini-me” who loved to watch Atlanta Falcons and University of Georgia football games. Logan and his 8-year-old brother, Isaiah, spent many weekends with Brasley and his wife, who live in Athens, Brasley said. He thanked the community for its outpouring of support, while urging changes to prevent further tragedies.
“Logan deserved better than this,” Brasley said. “Syari deserved better than this. The other children deserved better than this. And it’s up to us to do something about it.”
The family has asked attorneys to get answers. But for now, the focus is on Logan’s funeral, set for Sunday afternoon. It’s only fitting, the boy’s family said, that his funeral be held before the Falcons’ kick off, one win away from the Super Bowl.
Whitehead said she can’t imagine life without Logan but cherishes every day she had with him. His giving spirit is still at work, Whitehead said, helping his family cope.
“He went to heaven with a job, and he hasn’t stopped,” she said.
The funeral for Logan will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lawrenceville chapel of Tim Stewart Funeral Home.
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