Dog stabbed to death
Murrieta, CA (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Oct 6, 2008
County: Riverside

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Ricky Donell Jones

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

A Murrieta woman pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's child testified Wednesday [April 22, 2009] he fatally stabbed their 6-month-old puppy to protect the couple's infant daughter.

Sarah Rabe, the sole eyewitness to the stabbing, testified Ricky Donell Jones was trying to save their 7-month-old daughter from an impending attack by the family's 26-pound pup named Jack.

"He started to growl. He rushed in," said Rabe, who testified on the defendant's behalf. "I grabbed my daughter and he grabbed the dog. He killed the dog. He took the knife and that was it."

Jones, 35, is on trial at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley charged with felony animal cruelty in connection with the Oct. 6 death of the family's Australian cattle dog at their Murrieta home.

The puppy, whose body was put in a trash bag, suffocated after suffering a collapsed lung, said veterinarian Susan Eyer Anderson. The pup had fresh bruises on its neck and belly and suffered at least two thrusts from a knife that left a 6-inch-deep wound between its ribs, she testified.

"This dog died slowly," Eyer-Anderson said.

Jones has four prior felony convictions from Los Angeles County for kidnapping and making threats to injure, according to court records. Under the state's three-strikes law, a guilty verdict in this case could result in Jones receiving a prison term of 25 years to life, prosecutor Jennifer Strona said outside court.

Rabe, who often looked down at a crumpled tissue in her hand as she spoke, described the pup as being aggressive with Rabe's five children and the family's other dogs, a pit bull and a rottweiler.

"He would corner them and attacked them," Rabe said of the pup. "He would stalk people, like an animal stalking prey."

Strona questioned Rabe about statements she made to Murrieta police ---- that the dog ran away on the day of the stabbing ---- and the wholly different account she reportedly gave to a social worker.

"He was upset, so he decided to stab the dog and make you watch," Strona said, citing a social worker's report.

"No, I didn't say that," Rabe replied. "I was in the room."

Strona asked Rabe why she did not tell authorities this version of events.

"I panicked and things got worse," Rabe said.

But Kristen Stennette, the social worker, testified that Rabe did not seem panicked when she talked to her.

"She said the dog kept barking and he was irritated that the dog kept barking all the time," Stennette testified. "He made her watch him kill the dog."

Defense attorney John Borrego asked if she had a copy of the recording that was made of this conversation.

Stennette said Murrieta police would have it because they made the recording and she did not.

No recording was played during the trial.

Stennette said that during her visit to the home on the day of the incident, the children were well-fed and showed no signs of being physically abused.

In her conversations with the children, she learned that a family cat died a few weeks earlier. The older children said Jones was responsible for the cat's demise, Stennette said.

"Ms. Rabe said she believed the cat had bit Mr. Jones and that he was trying to get the cat out of the bedroom using a bat," Stennette testified. "She said the cat was dead, but did not know where the body was."

No charges were filed in connection with the cat's death.

While Rabe was the only one inside her bedroom when Jack was stabbed, her account of what happened that morning was, in part, very different from her son's testimony.

She testified her son was sneaking Jack out of the house when the pup charged into the master bedroom. But, during his testimony, Caleb, 11, testified he went into the backyard and let the puppy out of his kennel.

The boy was outside when he heard the pup yelping from inside the house, he said. He then overheard his mother and Jones fighting.

"My mom was saying, 'Don't do it. Don't do it,'" the boy testified. "He was telling my mom to shut up. He was killing my dog."

Strona asked the boy if he went inside the master bedroom, the room where he heard the puppy's cries.

"Ricky said no one can go into his room unless he allows it," he responded.

Caleb testified he went to school that day and told a classmate that his dog had been killed. A parent of a classmate called police, said Murrieta police Officer Joseph Sam.

Jones is also charged with a misdemeanor count of endangering the boy's mental well-being in connection with the pup's death, according to Strona.

Closing statements are expected to begin Thursday.

Case Updates

References

• « CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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