A puppy, a 3-month-old black Labrador, was found dead in a grave off Rhyolite Drive in north Redding in late November. Officials called the death a ritualistic mutilation and arrested two juvenile suspects.
Junior Covert, 17, is charged with felony animal cruelty and an enhancement alleging he used a deadly weapon, according to the Shasta County district attorney's office. The charges carry a maximum four-year sentence.
A 16-year-old girl whose name has not been released also faces felony charges.
Meanwhile, Shasta County sheriff's officials said this week that reports on two more individuals have been sent to the district attorney's office for possible prosecution. One of the suspects is an adult and the other a juvenile.
Sheriff's Lt. Denis Carroll declined to discuss a motive for the killing. The puppy, named Red, had been given to one of the suspects by a friend. Case Updates| Junior was back in court on January 27, 2004 and was sentenced to go to a camp. His actual sentence is for 4 years but he can get out of camp in 120 days. He will be on probation until 2007. The minor girl received a sentence of 104 days at Juvenile Hall and probation. | | Update posted on Jan 28, 2004 - 5:46AM |
| Junior Covert will be sentenced Jan, 27 2004. He is likely to get only 120 days in Juvenile Hall (90 days already served) coupled with probation. | | Update posted on Jan 23, 2004 - 10:37AM |
The 17-year-old Redding boy has been convicted of animal cruelty in a puppy killing last year that outraged animal lovers across the country.
Shasta County District Attorney Jerry Benito said Wednesday that Junior Covert faces a maximum of four years confinement in a juvenile facility.
But since Covert is a minor, Benito said the date of his sentencing by Shasta County Juvenile Court Judge Anthony Anderson as well as the length of his sentence can't be disclosed.
Covert was charged with felony animal cruelty and an enhancement alleging he used a deadly weapon � a knife � to kill and mutilate a 3-month-old black Labrador puppy, named Red.
That special enhancement made the offense a "strike" under California's three strikes law, said Benito, adding that it's believed to be the first special allegation in an animal cruelty case in Shasta County.
Shasta County Deputy District Attorney Christie Mulligan prosecuted the case.
Read more: Update posted on Jan 9, 2004 - 2:44PM |
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