Dog shot twice in head - Clinton, NY

Tuesday, Apr 5, 2011

County: Oneida

Charges: Felony CTA, Felony Non-CTA
Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: William E. Richerson

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

A 58-year-old man is accused of shooting and killing his family dog in the basement of his home Tuesday evening.

Police said William E. Richerson, of 35 Fountain St., took his family's Jack Russell Terrier into his basement shortly before 6 p.m. and shot it with a .22-caliber pistol. The dog's name was 'Sam'.

Police said Richerson was emotionally upset when he killed the animal.

"He just apparently had some type of emotional set back, and he had also been drinking," said Kirkland Police Chief Daniel English. Richerson "just flipped" and shot the dog twice.

Richerson's mother-in-law was home at the time, and she telephoned his wife to tell her to get home as soon as possible, English said. Richerson's wife found him in the basement and she grabbed the pistol he had set down, authorities said. The wife then called 9-1-1 at 6:02 p.m.

Police said Richerson did not have a permit for the firearm. Officers responded to the residence and took Richerson into custody. Several other long guns and handguns were also seized from the residence. English said the firearms are not registered in New York State. He said the Richersons moved to the area from Illinois two years ago, and police are trying to determine if the weapons are registered in Illinois.

Police said Richerson is charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a felony, and fourth-degree possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. Richerson was arraigned in Town Court and was sent to county jail on $5,000 cash bail or $7,500 bond.

He is scheduled for arraignment in County Court on May 24.

Case Updates

A Clinton man was sentenced Tuesday to spend two years in prison for shooting the family dog twice in the head in April. After William Richerson, 58, was sentenced in Oneida County Court on charges of aggravated cruelty to an animal and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both felonies, prosecutors said it was troubling that Richerson never gave a good reason why he wanted to kill the Jack Russell terrier, named Sam. "It's bothersome that there doesn't appear to be anything that precipitated this," said Assistant District Attorney Kara Wilson. Instead, Richerson was simply intoxicated when he brought the dog into the basement of his Fountain Street home the night of April 5 and shot him, Wilson said. Then he called his wife and told her what he had done. "The dog was starting to bother his wife, and he wanted to make his wife happy," Wilson said. At one point, Richerson also told police that he believed he could kill his dog if he wanted to, since it was his dog. In response to comments that the dog was getting old and sick, Wilson said an autopsy concluded that the dog was in perfect health when he was killed. When Richerson appeared in court this time, however, he only offered a simple apology. "I made a mistake, and I'm really sorry," Richerson told Judge Barry M. Donalty. Since Richerson pleaded guilty in early June, Wilson said news of Richerson's reasoning for killing the dog has been picked up by online websites all over the world �" and that's a good thing, she said. "More people are made more aware of what's going on out there and that there are ramifications for your actions," Wilson said. Richerson also had four unlicensed weapons in his home, prosecutors said.

Source: Utica OD - July 19, 2011 Update posted on Nov 28, 2011 - 9:34PM

A Clinton man pleaded guilty this week to killing the family dog by shooting it twice in the head in April, prosecutors said. William Richerson, 58, of Fountain Street, pleaded guilty in Oneida County Court on Tuesday to felony aggravated cruelty to an animal and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He is due to be sentenced by Judge Barry M. Donalty on July 17. Richerson admitted to shooting the family's Jack Russell terrier named Sam on April 5 in the basement, prosecutors said. When Richerson's wife called police to respond, the officers were led to a gun cabinet which contained several firearms, including a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and a .380-caliber Colt semi-automatic pistol, prosecutors said. Richerson did not have a license for those firearms. Although the felony aggravated animal cruelty charge can be punished by local jail time, according to the Agriculture and Markets law, the violent felony firearms charge carries a state prison sentence. Richerson's case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kara Wilson.

Source: uticaod.com - Jun2, 2011 Update posted on Jun 2, 2011 - 11:31AM

References

« NY State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Oneida County, NY

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