Kitten killed over video game - Staunton, VA

Monday, May 31, 2010

County: Augusta

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Bruce Jamar Walston

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Police arrested a Staunton man late Monday night after he reportedly killed a kitten that interrupted his video game, according to an arrest report.

Bruce Jamar Walston, 21, of 128 College Circle, Apt. 1, is charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and disorderly conduct.

Staunton authorities were called to Walston's apartment at 9 p.m. after his girlfriend phoned 911. Police said Walston apparently became enraged when the woman's kitten disconnected his video game. Walston is accused of killing the kitten by hurling it against a wall.

"In front of her kids," said Officer Lisa Klein of the Staunton Police Department.

Walston, who had been free on bond in connection with a January breaking and entering charge, is being held without bond at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.

Debbie Caywood, director of the Augusta Regional SPCA, said her organization doesn't come across physically abused animals on a regular basis, and said accounts of torturing animals "is very rare in this area as far as what we deal with."

Police arrested Walston earlier this year after he was suspected of assaulting two people at his apartment building and beating one of the victims with a vacuum sweeper. According to police, Walston and Sylvestor Gentry, 25, of Staunton, kicked in a door at Apt. 3, knocking down a 36-year-old man who was beaten with the sweeper. Klein said a 54-year-old woman also was knocked to the floor, where she was punched and kicked.

"She was struck several times," Klein said.

Walston and Gentry have a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 25 in Staunton General District Court on felony charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit assault.

Case Updates

Authorities arrested a Verona man early Wednesday morning after he allegedly head-butted and punched his 31-year-old girlfriend in the face, according the sheriff's office. Bruce J. Walston, 22, is charged with misdemeanor assault and battery. The sheriff's office said the incident took place Wednesday around 1 a.m. at an apartment in the 50 block of Washington Street in Verona. Alcohol appears to have been a factor. Walston made headlines last year in May when he killed a kitten at a College Circle apartment in Staunton after the pet interrupted his video game. He was sentenced to six months in jail on a charge of animal cruelty.

Source: newsleader.com - Aug 11, 2011 Update posted on Aug 11, 2011 - 8:16PM

The Staunton man already convicted of throwing a kitten against a wall has dropped his appeal. A judge found 21-year-old Bruce Jamar Walston guilty of animal cruelty and disorderly conduct last fall. Monday, his attorney told a judge that he is withdrawing his appeal of those convictions. Walston was arrested last spring after police said he killed his girlfriend's kitten because it apparently disconnected his video game. Walston will serve six months in jail.

Source: nbc29.com - Jan 31, 2011 Update posted on Jan 31, 2011 - 9:50PM

Staunton authorities Tuesday started their search for a city man who skipped his morning trial in a kitten killing case. Judge Humes J. Franklin Jr. issued a capias for Bruce Jamar Walston, 21, of Staunton, after he failed to appear in court on animal cruelty and disorderly conduct charges. Staunton police arrested Walston after they said he threw his girlfriend's kitten against a wall in June when it interrupted his video game by pulling a plug. At the time, Walston was out of jail on bond for a January incident in which he and Sylvester Isaiah Gentry, also of Staunton, were charged in a break-in. According to police, Walston and Gentry used a vacuum cleaner to beat a man in his home. They were charged with statutory burglary and assault. Walston is scheduled to appear in Staunton Circuit Court for the assault case at the end of January. Attempts to reach Walston and his girlfriend by phone were unsuccessful.

Source: newsvirginian.com - Dec 29, 2010 Update posted on Dec 29, 2010 - 11:22PM

References

« VA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Augusta County, VA

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