Puppy thrown from 3rd floor balcony
North Charleston, SC (US)Incident Date: Monday, Mar 19, 2007
County: Charleston
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available
Alleged: Javon Morris
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
Police are charging a North Charleston man with cruelty to animals after they say he threw a 10-week old puppy out of a third floor apartment building. A black puppy named Pla' Boi will never graduate to bigger toys or food bowls. The Yorkshire Terrier-Toy Poodle cross died at the age of 10 weeks.
News 2 filed Freedom of Information Act paperwork to obtain the 911 calls in this case. On March 19, Pla' Boi's Owner Equette Drummer called 911 screaming, "Please hurry. Please hurry." The dispatcher said, "We'll send someone. ok." Drummer wailed, "Please hurry. Please hurry." The dispatcher said, "Police are already enroute." Drummer continued screaming, "Please hurry. He killed my damn dog. Please help me. Please get somebody."
Police say 21 Year-Old Javon Morris threw the puppy from the breezeway on the apartment's highest level to a concrete sidewalk three stories down. Morris appeared before Bond Court Judge Linda Lombard. She read parts of the police report aloud until Morris asked, "Can I say something about that, ma'am?"
Morris told the judge he dated Drummer and shared a North Charleston apartment. Morris said, "She came after the dog and there was a tussle and the dog went over the balcony. I did not throw the dog."
Police disagree and charged Morris with ill treatment of an animal. The first 911 call to police describes how this all began. Drummer calmly requested police as she told the dispatcher, "My roommate stole my dog and will not tell me the location of the dog. He says the pound has it but won't say what pound was it."
Drummer says the call angered Morris. She soon heard Pla' Boi whimper and found him beneath the coffee table in a cloth pet carrier. She says that's when Morris grabbed the dog, walked out the door and then threw the puppy from their third floor apartment.
Drummer rushed her dog to an emergency vet clinic, with head injuries so severe, the vet euthanized him.
The judge set Morris' bond at $10,000, but it's little consolation to Drummer or to the tiny puppy who loved chasing socks and feet.
Count on 2's Jenny Fisher talked with Drummer on the phone. She declined to talk with us on camera because she's too shaken up. In fact, police had to take her to the emergency room after her dog's death. She says she misses Pla' Boi and is still in shock he's gone.
Javon Morris is on probation for assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Drummer is in the process of getting a restraining order against him.
Case UpdatesAn incredulous judge sentenced a man to three years in prison for tossing a 10-week-old puppy off an apartment balcony during an argument with his girlfriend.
The Yorkiepoo, a cross between a Yorkshire terrier and a poodle, was in a soft-sided container but suffered head injuries and had to be put to death.
Javon Patrick Morris, 22, apologized for throwing the puppy off the third-floor balcony last March and pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.
"You mean he threw a helpless animal off three floors because he was mad at someone?" Circuit Judge Edward Cottingham asked a prosecutor before issuing the sentence Thursday.
The judge, who has owned nine dogs, said he was obligated to issue a tough sentence.
"There is nobody in this world that can understand that," Cottingham said.
He sentenced Morris to five years, suspended to three years in prison and two years of probation. Morris, who will be eligible for parole in 20 months, also was ordered to get anger management counseling.
"I've got to send a message to all dog lovers that we are going to protect that interest in our courtrooms," Cottingham said. | Source: Fresno Bee - Oct 26, 2007
Update posted on Oct 26, 2007 - 11:32PM |
The man accused of throwing a puppy off a balcony to its death won't be in court until Thursday. Javon Morris, 21, was expected to plead guilty Tuesday morning, but that's been pushed back because of scheduling problems. He is accused of throwing the dog from the third floor balcony of his North Charleston apartment building last March.
Police say it was during an argument with his girlfriend.
The maximum sentence for animal cruelty is five years in prison. | Source: Live 5 News - Oct 23, 2007
Update posted on Oct 23, 2007 - 2:32PM |
On Oct 9, a man facing a judge on charges of animal cruelty decided to plead not guilty. Police say 21 year old Javon Morris threw a ten week-old puppy from the third floor of his apartment. That puppy died after it hit the concrete below.
Police say it happened after Morris got in an argument with his girlfriend, Neesy Drummer in their apartment in North Charleston.
On Oct 9, Morris was expected to plead guilty, but instead he requested a trial by jury.
That is now expected to get underway later this month. | Source: WCBD - Oct 9, 2007
Update posted on Oct 14, 2007 - 7:27PM |
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