Puppy stomped to death
Bainbridge, OH (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 26, 2011
County: Ross

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Steve Ford

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

A man is facing charges after allegations that he stomped a puppy to death and then attacked and threatened to kill his then-girlfriend.

48-year-old Ladonia Burns spoke exclusively with NBC4's Nadia Bashir at her Bainbridge home where the alleged attack happened. She said her then-boyfriend, 47-year-old Steve Ford, crushed her puppy's skull with his foot then came after her.

"What's going through my mind? A million things. What did I do to deserve this? Nothing," Burns said Thursday night.

She said Ford became angry last Tuesday night when Burns got home from work and insisted she obey him. A police report indicated Ford wanted Burns to go get him beer. Burns said there was no mention of beer, but rather Ford insisted she generally obey him.

She said that when she began to walk away, Ford took out his anger on her 9-week-old cocker-spaniel mix puppy. Burns said she saw the puppy's legs flailing as Ford stomped on it.

Burns said she buried the puppy in the woods near her home.

"How can people do that? The puppies are still nursing. How could somebody do that?" she said.

Burns said Ford then attacked her, shattering the glass door in the front of her home. She said he beat her, held her at knifepoint and then slammed her face into her toilet's water tank. She said she believes Ford would have killed her had her parents not pulled into the driveway. They had stopped by to drop off money which Burns said Ford had called and asked to borrow earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Burns said she is looking for good homes for her remaining two puppies.

POLICE INVESTIGATION:

According to a report from the Ross County Sheriff's Office, authorities were called to a home on 2000-block of Paugh Road outside of Bainbridge at about 9:30 p.m.The reporting officer said Burns told him she ran into the house after Ford allegedly killed her puppy. She said she locked the door, but Ford allegedly kicked in the glass door and charged at her.

She told the officer she ran outside but Ford allegedly caught her and pulled her to the ground by her hair.

According to the report, Ford then beat Burns for about 15 minutes and threatened to kill her.

"[Ford] promised he was going to hold her hostage because he wanted to kill her," the report states.

Burns claims that Ford dragged her into the house by her hair and held her in a chair. She said he repeatedly stabbed the chair next to her head with a butcher's knife while choking and smacking her.

She alleges he then spit on her and dragged her by her hair to the bathroom where he allegedly shoved her head in a toilet.

Burns said she finally escaped by running to her parents when they arrived.

When the officer arrived at the scene, he said, Ford smelled like alcohol and said he wanted to end his relationship with Burns anyway.

Ford is charged with assault and domestic violence and he is in jail on a bond of $50,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 3.

Case Updates

References

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