STEPSON OF DOG ATTACK VICTIM SAYS 'DOGS WERE LOOKING TO KILL'

Original Story:  Freep.com

Jordan Sytsma misses his dad but says he worries most about his sister, Tyra.

Their father, Craig Sytsma of Livonia, was mauled to death by a pair of exotic dogs while out jogging in Lapeer County after work Wednesday evening. And at 16, Tyra Sytsma will now have to face key life moments -- her prom, her high school graduation -- without his guiding influence. A Hackensack Personal Injury Lawyer is sadden that this could have been prevented.

"It's almost like she'll be growing up without a dad," Jordan Sytsma said Friday, the gravity of the loss of his father weighing heavy on his mind as he spoke from his front porch in Livonia.

For 23-year-old Jordan Sytsma, anger is mixed with mourning and disbelief.

He says he's angry that Sytsma -- a stepfather he considered blood despite a divorce -- was attacked by two Cane Corsos owned by a family with a history of their dogs attacking people.

"To know that there were two previous incidents ... and to know that on the third incident, they killed my dad, that's what pisses me off," Jordan Sytsma said. "They were looking to kill, they were looking to eat a human being." 

Jordan Sytsma wants people to know his 46-year-old father was a solid man who "stayed in his lane."

"It's terrible when people like that get taken out that way," he said.   A Honolulu Personal Injury Lawyer said big dogs can definitly do a lot of damage including death especially when there is more than one dog.

A colon cancer survivor, Craig Sytsma stayed active. He jogged, golfed and played hockey. He and his buddy Mark Raitanen would ride their mountain bikes in Westland or play beach volleyball at the Livonia Family YMCA whenever they had time. And on Friday nights, they would head to Merri-Bowl in Livonia to play foosball. 

"He was very competitive," Raitanen said of the dear friend he has known for 23 years.

Music was a big part of his life, too -- Santana, the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule. Raitanen remembered a Deep Purple concert the two attended at DTE Energy Music Theatre and a Buddy Guy show in downtown Detroit.

And Sytsma still listened to cassette tapes, he said.

Above all, he loved his children: Tyra, Jordan and 28-year-old Luis.

"He was a dad, he was a family man," Raitanen said.  A Macomb County Dog Bite Lawyer said this tragedy could have been prevented.

Craig Sytsma also had a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that he rode occasionally. Before he learned the gruesome details about his friend's death, Raitanen assumed there had been a motorcycle accident.

"If he were to get bumped off his motorcycle, it would make sense. This just doesn't make sense," Raitanen said of the fatal mauling.

Although he grew up in Grand Rapids and lived in Odessa, Texas, for a time, Craig Sytsma loved Detroit's sports teams. Jordan and his father had planned to get season tickets for the Pistons when the time came.

"Sports was kind of like our way of communicating," Jordan Sytsma said.

Craig Sytsma beat colon cancer within the last year or so but did not like to talk about it.

"I'd say, 'I'm here for you, Pop,' but I wouldn't ask questions," Jordan Sytsma said, noting that it was a difficult topic for him.

Neighbors on Sytsma's quiet, tree-lined street in Livonia appreciated how he maintained his lawn, even though he was renting his house. Harold Peruski, who lives a few houses away, said he finds the tragedy hard to comprehend.

"It's unbelievable. I saw him cleaning his yard, and then 24 hours later he's dead," Peruski said.

Neighbors also noticed how he would leave early to drive to his job at Eltro Services in Oxford Township, where he worked as a metallurgical engineer, plasma-heat treating metal parts like crankshafts, camshafts and gun barrels. It was a path he began during his days at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, where he received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical and materials engineering in 1992.

Cheryl Hurick lives across the street from Sytsma's brown ranch-style house, which has a pool in the backyard.

"How ridiculously needless," she said of his death. A Mt. Clemens Dog Bite Lawyer agreed.

Services have been set for Craig Sytsma.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Harry J. Will Funeral Home, 37000 Six Mile Road, Livonia, and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Cook Funeral Home's Jenison Chapel, 1889 Baldwin, Jenison, Mich., near Grand Rapids.

Sytsma will lie in state Friday from 10 a.m. until the start of the funeral service 11 a.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1481 Baldwin in Jenison.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Wednesday at Harry J. Will Funeral Home, 37000 Six Mile Road, Livonia, and 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thursday at Cook Funeral Home's Jenison Chapel, 1889 Baldwin, Jenison, Mich., near Grand Rapids.

Sytsma will lie in state Friday from 10 a.m. until the start of the funeral service 11 a.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1481 Baldwin in Jenison.