Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Brad Burress | | Defense(s): | Paris Ellis, Frank Schiavone | | Judge(s): | Keith Spaeth, Patricia Oney |
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Case #16348 Rating: 1.0 out of 5
Baby alpaca beaten to death
Middletown, OH (US)Incident Date: Friday, Feb 19, 2010
County: Mahoning
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available
Defendants/Suspects:
» Nicholas Reynolds
» Marcus Miller
» Stacie Mullins
Upcoming Court Dates:
» Thursday, Jan 13, 2011: Miller's sentencing is set for Jan. 13 before Judge Keith Spaeth. Miller faces a maximum penalty of more than nine years in prison, but is eligible for probation.
» Monday, Jan 24, 2011: Mullins faces just shy of two years in prison but could get probation. Sentencing is set for Jan. 24 before Judge Patricia Oney.
Case Updates: 7 update(s) available
The owner of a baby alpaca that was tortured and beaten to death last month hopes some good will come from the senseless killing, as a state lawmaker continues to push for tougher animal cruelty laws in Ohio.
Jeff Pergram said he has buried his "loving and caring" 3-month-old alpaca, Masterpiece, who was found in an abandoned barn in southwest Ohio on Feb. 19. Shocked and "disheartened" by the killing, Pergram says he plans to install security cameras along the perimeter of his Middletown farm to ward off any future attacks on his beloved animals.
"It's hard to look out there and see he's not there now," Pergram told FoxNews.com. "He was a real inquisitive guy. He was like a dog, he wanted to be right next to you, to nuzzle you."
Pergram said Masterpiece's friendliness probably led to his demise.
"He was way different," Pergram continued. "And it's a different generation of people we're raising right now."
Two 17-year-old boys have been charged in juvenile court with vandalism, theft, animal cruelty, breaking and entering and tampering with evidence related to the death of Masterpiece, whose value has been estimated at $8,000. The youths remain in custody at a juvenile detention center pending a March 30 hearing. Prosecutors want their case transferred to adult court, where they'd face harsher penalties if convicted.
A grand jury also is considering whether to indict Stacie Mullin, 22, of Madison Township, Ohio, who allegedly drove the boys to and from Pergram's farm in connection to the killing.
Alpacas, which are similar to llamas, are native to South America and are prized for their wool. According to a national registry, nearly 25,000 alpacas, roughly 20 percent of the nation's total, are kept in Ohio.
In the wake of Masterpiece's beating death and reports of another missing alpaca in the area, Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, says it's time to pass Ohio House Bill 55, which would toughen animal cruelty laws in the state.
"Let's get this bill going," Combs told FoxNews.com. "How can you explain the mind that works that way, that would abuse a helpless animal? There's something wrong there."
Combs proposed the bill in late 2007, but it has stalled in the Ohio Legislature. He hopes the high-profile killing of Masterpiece and the second missing animal will push the bill into law. Since Masterpiece was found bloodied and beaten, Combs says he's received calls from concerned alpaca owners.
"They are afraid for their animals," he said. "And they are very, very popular in Ohio. Some people call Ohio 'Little Peru' because there are [more alpacas] here than any other place outside of Peru. Isn't that amazing?"
A Web site dedicated to Masterpiece and a companion Facebook page with more than 1,500 fans has generated strong reactions to the animal's killing. Some users sent letters to local lawmakers urging passage of Combs' bill.
Gary Simpson, who raises 15 alpacas on a farm near Brookville, Ohio, told the Cincinnati Enquirer that "everybody's sense of security has been shaken" since Masterpiece's killing.
Combs' bill would toughen sentencing provisions of animal cruelty statutes in Ohio and require treatment for juvenile offenders.
He is also considering proposing the creation of an animal abuser registry, much like a database that tracks sex offenders. A similar effort has recently been proposed by a California lawmaker.
But Robin Piper, Butler County's prosecutor, thinks the current version of Combs' bill doesn't do enough.
"House Bill 55 would allow animal cruelty, animal torture, or the malicious killing of an animal to be a misdemeanor," he said in a March 5 statement. "That's not good enough."
Piper said the bill, as currently written, only requires psychological counseling when an animal is a "companion animal" like a cat or dog. Alpacas, meanwhile, are livestock animals and as such, the corresponding animal cruelty charge carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail.
"This requirement should be more comprehensive and put into place anytime a juvenile is involved in animal cruelty, malicious injury, or torture of an animal -- regardless of what type of animal is involved," Piper's statement continued.
Piper said the state's "antiquated" animal cruelty laws need to be revised.
"It doesn't make sense that someone can steal $500 worth of scrap metal and it's a felony, yet they can maliciously beat, torture, or kill and an animal worth thousands of dollars, and it's only a misdemeanor," he said. "I'm not trying to go on a crusade, but the law needs to be much stronger than it is."
Case UpdatesA Madison Township woman admitted her role Monday in helping two teens who beat a baby alpaca to death.
Stacie Mullins, 23, pleaded guilty to complicity to animal cruelty and complicity to grand theft. In exchange for her pleas - and her cooperation with prosecuting the alpaca's actual attackers - prosecutors dropped charges of evidence-tampering and breaking and entering.
The charges arose from the January beating death of the alpaca named Masterpiece, who was taken from his Madison Township farm. Mullins was accused of driving Nicholas Reynolds and Marcus Theodore Miller, both 17 at the time, to and from the farm of Jeff Pergram, where the animal lived.
Mullins faces just shy of two years in prison but could get probation. Sentencing is set for Jan. 24 before Judge Patricia Oney.
Assistant Prosecutor Brad Burress said Pergram consented to the plea deal.
Burress added that Mullins was not one of the primary perpetrators. "She cooperated with us from day one," he said, "and she came in and testified" against Miller, now 18.
Earlier this month, a jury convicted Miller of four felonies: breaking and entering, grand theft, vandalism and tampering with evidence; he also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor animal-cruelty charge.
Miller's sentencing is set for Jan. 13 before Judge Keith Spaeth. Miller faces a maximum penalty of more than nine years in prison, but is eligible for probation.
Reynolds, who has also turned 18, was sentenced to 20 months for the same offenses Miller faced, along with charges in an unrelated high-speed police chase.
Mullins still faces proceedings in Butler County Juvenile Court related to the chase. | Source: cincinnati.com - Nov 22, 2010
Update posted on Nov 22, 2010 - 7:12PM |
A Madison Township teen who admitted a day earlier that he was guilty of cruelty to animals was convicted of four additional felony charges Wednesday in the fatal beating of a baby alpaca last January.
After deliberating two hours, a Butler County jury convicted Marcus Theodore Miller, 18, on charges of breaking and entering, grand theft, vandalism and tampering with evidence. The animal cruelty charge to which he entered a plea on Tuesday is a misdemeanor.
His lawyer, Frank Schiavone, said Miller didn't intend to steal the animal or kill it.
Rather, Schiavone said, Miller and a friend made a bad, alcohol-induced decision to jump the fence at Jeff Pergram's Madison Township farm where the 3-month-old alpaca, Masterpiece, lived.
Authorities say the pair chased and caught the baby alpaca, lifted it over the fence and dropped it near the road, then dragged it across the street into the truck of their companion, Stacie Mullins. After noticing the animal was gasping for air, the pair took turns beating it to put it out of its misery, authorities said, then left the dead animal in an abandoned barn in Montgomery County.
Mullins, the 23-year-old woman accused of driving Miller and co-defendant Nicholas Reynolds to Pergram's farm, was a key witness in Miller's trial.
Reynolds already has pleaded guilty to the same charges Miller is facing. Reynolds was sentenced to 20 months for those crimes and for an unrelated high-speed police chase.
Both Miller and Reynolds were 17 at the time Masterpiece was beaten in January, but a judge sent their cases to adult court and both Madison Township teens are now 18 years old.
Mullins is scheduled for a hearing Nov. 22 on charges alleging she assisted the alpaca's attackers.
Sentencing for Miller is set for Jan. 13. | Source: cincinnati.com - Nov 10, 2010
Update posted on Nov 11, 2010 - 6:25PM |
Marcus Theodore Miller admitted Tuesday that he beat a baby alpaca to death last January.
But his lawyer told a Butler County jury that Miller didn't intentionally plan to steal it or kill it when he and another teen jumped the fence at Jeff Pergram's Madison Township farm and started chasing the animal around.
Instead, it was a game hatched in an alcohol-induced haze for a little country fun, defense lawyer Frank Schiavone told jurors as Miller's trial opened Tuesday.
"You've got three kids … who were bored in the early days of January when it's dark and cold and their senses (were) dulled a little bit by the alcohol," Schiavone said. "It probably sounded like a good idea at the time. Then is just started unraveling from there."
Miller pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty in the beating of the 3-month old alpaca, Masterpiece. But he proceeded to trial on four remaining felony charges.
The 18-year-old is being tried for breaking and entering, grand theft, vandalism and tampering with evidence for disposing of the dead alpaca in an abandoned barn in Montgomery County.
Miller entered the single plea just after his jury was seated.
Stacie Mullins, the 23-year-old woman who drove Miller and co-defendant Nicholas Reynolds to the farm, is a key witness in the trial.
Assistant County Prosecutor Brad Burress said she waited in the car while Miller and Reynolds jumped the fence. Mullins saw them chase an alpaca, then hoist it over the fence by its legs before dropping it near the road.
Burress said the teens dragged it across the street and tossed it in the back of Mullins' truck. When they got back to Mullins' house, Mullins noticed the alpaca "gurgling and gasping for air and having blood coming out of its mouth."
Reynolds, who has already pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to 20 months for those crimes and an unrelated high-speed police chase, then decided to put the animal "out of its misery," Burress said.
So Reynolds and Miller took turns hitting the alpaca.
The trial before Judge Keith Spaeth of Butler County Common Pleas Court is expected to last two days.
Both Miller and Reynolds were 17 when the incident occurred, but their cases were referred to adult court. They have since turned 18.
Mullins, 23, is scheduled for a hearing Nov. 22. She is accused of driving the boys to Pergram's farm and then to a nearby abandoned barn in Montgomery County to dispose of the dead alpaca. The complicity charges against Mullins are pending with Judge Patricia Oney. | Source: cincinnati.com - Nov 9, 2010
Update posted on Nov 9, 2010 - 8:59PM |
A Madison Township teen was sentenced to 20 months in prison and three more in the county jail Thursday for his part in the fatal beating of a baby alpaca in January.
Nicholas Reynolds, 18, said he'd had a lot of time to think about what he had done wrong and felt that he could be rehabilitated.
He pleaded guilty to five charges in September in the death of Masterpiece, a 3-month old alpaca being raised by Jeff Pergram on his Madison Township farm.
Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth expressed the most concern about a sixth charge, though, an unrelated failure to comply with police charge Reynolds also pleaded guilty to. That charge came from a high-speed police chase in June when he was free on bond in the alpaca case.
Before sentencing, Pergram said he forgave Reynolds.
"I don't think he is going to forget this anytime soon," he said. Then, in a firm voice, he spoke directly to the defendant.
"You need to think before you react," Pergram said.
Reynolds is the first of three people to be sentenced for the beating death of Masterpiece, one of four alpacas being raised by Pergram. The alpaca's body was found a month later in an abandoned barn nearby.
He will spend eight months in prison on the four felony charges related to Masterpiece's death: breaking and entering; tampering with evidence, vandalism, and grand theft. In addition, he'll serve a 90-day jail sentence on the animal cruelty charge, which is a misdemeanor.
Spaeth sentenced Reynolds to 12 additional months in prison for the June incident when he fled from police and crashed the pickup owned by Stacie Mullins, a 23-three-year old co-defendant he had been ordered to stay away from.
The judge also said that Reynolds had an "alcohol problem" and tacked on another six months in a rehab center when he finishes his prison term.
After the sentence, Pergram said he was "appalled" that Reynolds got more time - 12 months - for the fleeing charge than the 8 months total he got for the charges involving Masterpiece.
Pergram has previously said that the incident left him too devastated to continue raising alpacas. He said in court Thursday that he sold the other alpacas at a loss.
Co-defendant Marcus Theodore Miller, 18, is set to go to trial on Nov. 9 for his part in the death of Masterpiece. Both boys were 17 at the time of the incident, but were sent to adult court.
Mullins' next court date is Nov. 22 before Common Pleas Court Judge Patricia Oney.
Spaeth also ruled that Reynolds will pay restitution and serve five years of probation, including 100 hours of community service at an animal shelter after completing his prison term.
If he fails to comply with any terms of his sentence, he could go to prison for eight years. | Source: cincinnati.com - Oct 21, 2010
Update posted on Oct 21, 2010 - 11:31PM |
A judge set bond at $250,000 for one teenage suspect in an alpaca's fatal beating after he was arrested again.
Authorities said 23-year Stacie Mullins and 17-year-old Nicholas Reynolds were in a car Saturday night that sped away from an officer and crashed into a tree.
The pair had been ordered to stay away from one another, and Judge Keith Spaeth repeated the admonition Tuesday during a bond hearing.
Authorities said Reynolds, who was driving the car, was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Mullins has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and Spaeth initially revoked both their bonds.
Police said Reynolds and 18-year-old Marcus Miller stole the alpaca from a Butler County farm in January and beat it to death.
They have been charged as adults with breaking and entering, tampering with evidence, cruelty to animals, vandalism and grand theft.
Mullins was also indicted on charges of complicity to animal cruelty, complicity to breaking and entering and complicity to tampering with evidence for her role in the animal's beating.
A court date has been scheduled for July 20 for Miller, who has recently changed attorneys. | Source: wlwt.com - Jun 29, 2010
Update posted on Jun 29, 2010 - 7:13PM |
The woman charged in the fatal beating of a baby alpaca in February was taken back to jail Saturday, June 26, on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Stacie Mullins, 23, was booked into the Butler County Jail early Saturday after she was arrested with 17-year-old Nicholas Reynolds, a co-defendant in the theft and animal cruelty case, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
Reynolds fled from officers who tried to stop the car he was driving when it backed out of a Madison Twp. driveway around 5:30 a.m. and stopped in the middle of Ohio 122, said Lt. Mike Craft.
Reynolds, who is being tried as an adult in the alpaca beating case, was charged with operating a vehicle while under the influence, failure to comply with a police order, resisting arrest, reckless operation, failure to control and driving under suspension.
“Stacie told detectives they fled because the judge told them not to have any contact with each other,” Craft said. Mullins is also charged with wrongful entrustment of a motor vehicle for allegedly permitting Reynolds to drive her car without a valid license and under the influence, according to Detective Rick Bucheit.
During the pursuit, the Camaro driven by Reynolds reached speeds of 80 mph to 90 mph, according to deputies. Stop sticks were deployed on Trenton-Franklin Road, but Reynolds attempted to avoid the tire flattening spikes and hit a tree near Michael Road, according to deputies. Mullins and Reynolds and a third person in the car were uninjured. The third person was not charged. Mullins, of Madison Twp., was free on bond and awaiting trial in September for her part as an alleged accomplice in the fatal beating of a baby alpaca in Madison Twp.
Mullins, Reynolds and Marcus Miller, 18, are accused in the theft and beating of a 3-month-old alpaca named Masterpiece. Authorities said the animal was beaten, put in a truck and dumped in an abandoned barn.
Reynolds and Miller are scheduled to be back in court Tuesday to set trial dates in their cases. They were both 17 at the time of the alleged crime, but will be tried as adults. | Source: Middletown Journal - Jun 27, 2010
Update posted on Jun 28, 2010 - 5:36PM |
Two Madison Twp. teens accused of fatally beating a baby alpaca after it was snatched from a Browns Run Road farm will have separate trials.
Nicholas Reynolds, 17, of Dickey Road, and Marcus Miller, 18, of Trenton-Franklin Road, were arraigned Tuesday, June 15, in Butler County Common Pleas Court on felony charges of breaking and entering, tampering with evidence, vandalism and grand theft, and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals. They both entered not guilty pleas.
The teens and Stacie Mullins, 23, of Kalbfleisch Road in Madison Twp., are accused in the theft and beating of a 3-month-old alpaca named Masterpiece, valued at $8,000, reported stolen Feb. 19. Authorities said the animal was beaten, put in a truck and dumped in an abandoned barn.
Paris Ellis, attorney for Reynolds, requested a separate trial for his client.
“They made statements implicating the other,” Ellis said of the accused pair.
Assistant Prosecutor Brad Burress agreed the defendants made incriminating statements against each other and could not be fairly tried together.
Judge Keith Spaeth set a 1 p.m. June 29 hearing, at which time he is expected to set the trial dates.
A Sept. 21 trial was set Monday afternoon by Judge Patricia Oney for Mullins, who is charged with complicity to breaking and entering, complicity to theft and tampering with evidence, all felonies; and complicity to cruelty to animals, a second-degree misdemeanor.
The youths were both 17 at the time of the crime for which they are accused, but will be tried as adults after Butler County Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen Romans relinquished their cases to adult court.
All three defendants are free on bond. | Source: Dayton Daily News - Jun 15, 2010
Update posted on Jun 17, 2010 - 7:20PM |
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