New features are coming soon. Login with Facebook to get an early start and help us test them out!
Images for this Case
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
more information on voting
When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.
Case #2169 Rating: 2.8 out of 5
Dog kicked like a football
Nashville, TN (US)Incident Date: Monday, Apr 5, 2004
County: Davidson
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 3 files available
Defendants/Suspects:
» Chad Daniel Crawford
» Michael Lee Davis - Alleged
Case Updates: 8 update(s) available
A man has been charged with killing his neighbor's 2-pound miniature Yorkshire terrier by place-kicking it into the air like a football. Chad Daniel Crawford, 23, was booked on charges of cruelty to animals and felony vandalism. He was freed after posting $25,000 bond.
Jelani Lewis and Jessica McKenzie said they were shocked and outraged by the death of their 17-year-old dog, Gizmo.
Lewis was on the grounds of his apartment complex Tuesday when he said he saw one of three men holding the dog like a football.
"The other one backed up and kicked him like a place-kicker,'' said Lewis, who couldn't get there fast enough to save his pet.
Gizmo flew through the air in a high arc, hit the pavement and rolled a few feet beneath a parked car. The dog was dead when he hit the ground and the men were laughing, Lewis said.
"I didn't believe that they kicked my dog,'' Lewis told The Tennessean newspaper. "When I saw him kick it, I was thinking, maybe for a second, 'No, that isn't Gizmo.''
Lewis said he chased the men and caught Crawford, then made him pick up Gizmo's body and take it upstairs to McKenzie.
Lewis said he held Crawford until police arrived. Only Crawford has been charged.
Contacted by telephone at his home, Crawford said the accusations against him were false. He declined further comment and said he was trying to contact an attorney.
Judy Ladebauche, Metro Animal Control Director said she would ask prosecutors to upgrade the charges against Crawford to the state's newly created aggravated animal cruelty charge. Under the new law, a conviction can result in a court-ordered mental evaluation for the offender and a second offense is a felony.
Case UpdatesA man convicted of kicking a dog like a football and killing it has been sentenced to 30 days in jail. Chad Crawford had faced up to a year in jail after being found of aggravated animal cruelty in October.
WTVF-TV in Nashville reports that Crawford must also get a psychological evaluation and report to jail on Dec. 14.
He denied kicking the dog in an incident that caused community outrage more than three years ago. He avoided a more serious felony charge of intentionally killing an animal.
The man accused of holding the Yorkshire Terrier for the kick is also facing a trial. | Source: KnoxNews- Dec 7, 2007
Update posted on Dec 10, 2007 - 9:49PM |
A man accused of kicking and killing a miniature Yorkshire terrier named Gizmo in 2003, was found guilty on Tuesday of aggravated cruelty to animals.
Chad Crawford took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday and said he never kicked Gizmo and never saw the dog until the animal was already dead.
He faces a maximum sentence of 11 months and 29 days in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
Crawford said that he and two of his friends had been drinking and watching a remake of the movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" when they decided to go outside. He said a short time later the owner of the dog came running up to them and blamed him for Gizmo's death.
"The only logical answer I can come up with is that your dog could have been hit by a car and it was underneath the car. It was a parked car, but I don't know if it got hit and went under there afterwards. It's hard to say," said Crawford.
A pathologist testified Tuesday that Gizmo likely died from a single hard blow that is most consistent with a kick.
The owners, Jelani Lewis and Jessica McKenzie, sued over the death of Gizmo and a settlement was reached, but the deal fell apart last year and the lawsuit, too, is headed for trial.
On Monday, the dog owner testified that he walked away from his pet for just a moment to throw away some trash and returned to see three men stomping on the dog.
He said Crawford then took a couple of steps and kicked the animal like a football.
"Chad Crawford stepped back and kicked Gizmo. After he kicked, they cheered like they just won a game," said Gizmo's Owner Jelani King.
Prosecutors had the man use a stuffed animal to re-enact what he saw for the jury.
The man accused of holding the dog while Crawford allegedly kicked the animal will be tried later. | Source: WSMV - Oct 23, 2007
Update posted on Oct 23, 2007 - 4:54PM |
A trial date for two men accused in the drop-kicking death of Gizmo, a Yorkshire terrier, was set Friday for Oct. 22, 2007 Susan Niland, a spokeswoman for the Davidson County District Attorney General's office said.
Chad Crawford and Michael Lee Davis, are charged with the intentional killing of an animal and aggravated cruelty to an animal, in a case that made headlines around the nation.
Davis held the dog while Crawford kicked it high up in the air as if it were a football, police said. The dog went soaring before its body slammed against the pavement as its owner watched in horror. | Source: The Tennesean - June 22, 2007
Update posted on Jun 24, 2007 - 4:53PM |
Two men who made world news headlines two years ago when they were accused of the drop-kicking death of Gizmo, a Yorkshire terrier, have settled a lawsuit brought by the dog's owners, an attorney for the pet's family said Wednesday.
Chad Crawford, 26, and Michael Davis, 23, settled the suit Tuesday for an undisclosed amount, Nashville lawyer Todd Faulkner said.
The pair also face animal cruelty charges in the April 2004 incident and are to be tried in Nashville in February. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The incident at Nashboro Village Apartments became an international sensation when police said Davis held the Yorkie, 16, in place while Crawford took a running start and kicked Gizmo like a football.
One of the dog's owners, Jelani Lewis, said he watched in horror as Gizmo hit the pavement and rolled under a parked car. Jelani and Jessica Lewis have since changed their last name to King and moved to Detroit.
The widespread media coverage in the months that followed prompted Crawford's defense attorney in December 2004 to ask that jurors from outside Davidson County be brought in to hear the criminal case. He also said that emotions ran so high among animal lovers that some had threatened his client with bodily harm.
It was not clear Wednesday whether the judge had made a decision on outside jurors. Judge Monte Watkins had delayed making a decision on jurors, saying it would be better to wait until closer to trial.
With the civil suit over, one burden has been lifted from the owners, Faulkner said. "They are extremely happy," he said. "Now once the criminal case is resolved, that will sort of put the exclamation point on the end of the sentence."
The owners sued Crawford, Davis, Nashboro Village Apartments and another man for $200,000 in damages. Nashboro Village was dismissed from the lawsuit. The third man named in the suit could not be found, Faulkner said. | Source: The Tennsessean - Nov 30, 2006
Update posted on Nov 30, 2006 - 10:36AM |
On Thursday, attorneys for Chad Crawford, 24, hope a judge will either move the trial or bring jurors in from other parts of the state. News stories about the death of Gizmo, a 16-year-old Yorkshire terrier, saturated local media, and emotions have run so high that animal lovers have threatened their client with bodily harm, the attorneys say.
''I think it would be really hard for you to find a pool of jurors in Davidson County who have not read about this case in the media,'' said Stephen Ogle, one of Crawford's attorneys. ''It's getting nationwide attention, but surely a county in East Tennessee or a county in West Tennessee would be less prejudiced.''
Crawford and Michael L. Davis were charged with aggravated cruelty to an animal and the intentional killing of an animal, both felonies. Davis is awaiting trial on his charges.
The men have denied killing the dog.
Besides asking for a change of venue, Ogle also filed a motion seeking to get Crawford's two felony charges reduced to misdemeanors.
Gizmo's owners have said that the dog was worth about $1,500. But Ogle disputes that.
No reasonable jury could conclude that a dog that age is worth more than $500, Ogle said.
Under the law, he said, the suspects would be subject to lesser charges because of the decreased value of the dog.
On the second charge - intentional killing of an animal - Ogle notes that the law was changed in June to make it a felony for first-time offenders convicted of the crime. But the incident involving Gizmo happened in April - too early for Crawford to be subjected to the new law, the attorney said.
Prosecutors could not be reached for comment yesterday, and it was unclear yesterday whether prosecutors will oppose either of the motions or whether Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins will rule on them during the hearing Thursday. | Source: The Tennessean - Dec 14, 2004
Update posted on Dec 14, 2004 - 10:50AM |
Two men charged with holding and kicking a dog like a football, killing it, have pleaded innocent to animal cruelty charges.
Twenty-one-year-old Michael Davis and 24-year-old Chad Crawford were arraigned yesterday in Davidson County Criminal Court on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and the intentional killing of an animal.
Crawford is accused of kicking the 16-year-old Yorkshire terrier. | Source: WVLT-TV
Update posted on Oct 28, 2004 - 9:33AM |
The man accused of performing the duties of a ''placeholder'' in a bizarre dog-kicking incident - which police say killed Gizmo, a Yorkshire terrier - has been indicted in the dog's death.
Michael Lee Davis, 21, of the 300 block of Delvin Drive in Nashville, was indicted on charges of intentional killing of an animal and aggravated cruelty to animals. He was arrested Oct. 7 and booked on the charges through Nashville's night court.
Davis' indictment occurred alongside that of the accused kicker, Chad Daniel Crawford, 24, who also was indicted in September by the Davidson County grand jury on the same charges.
According to police, Crawford kicked the 16-year-old dog high into the air on April 5 and caused it to die. The pet's owner said Crawford kicked Gizmo while Davis knelt to the ground, in a setup similar to the one employed by football players kicking field goals.
A third man, whom the owner spotted with Davis and Crawford, has never been publicly identified by authorities and has not been charged with any crime.
Reached yesterday by telephone at his Nashville employer, Axis Direct, Davis declined to comment. ''I have nothing to say about that,'' Davis said. An attempt to reach Crawford's Nashville attorneys was not successful.
Davis is out of jail through a pretrial release program. Crawford was arrested the day after Gizmo's death but was soon freed after posting $25,000 bail. Both men are set for an Oct. 27 arraignment on the charges. Further court dates have not been set, though it could be next year before there is a trial, said Kristen Shea, a Davidson County assistant district attorney general.
Since the April 5 incident, Gizmo's story has continued to stir response from animal lovers nationwide.
Reached yesterday by telephone, one of the dog's owners, Jelani Lewis, said that above all else, he wants the suspects to confess so he can find some peace from the loss.
''I want all three to understand what they did was wrong,'' Lewis said. ''That is the most important thing for me. I don't think that they understand that.''
Police reports say that on the night of the incident, Davis told them that Crawford had kicked Gizmo.
Lewis said the dog's death occurred when he took out the trash at his Nashboro Village apartment complex the night of April 5, when he also let an unleashed Gizmo go to a nearby grassy spot.
Lewis said he heard whimpering, and then shortly thereafter, watched helplessly as Davis knelt and held Gizmo as a football player would hold a football for a kicker.
Crawford took a running start and kicked Gizmo high into the air until the small dog smacked the pavement in the parking lot and his small frame rolled underneath a parked car, he said. | Source: The Tennessean - Oct 13, 2004
Update posted on Oct 19, 2004 - 5:48PM |
Jelani Lewis and his wife Jessica , owners of Gizmo, are asking a court to award them $20,000 in punitive and compensatory damages for his death. The suit names as defendants Chad Daniel Crawford, charged by police with kicking the dog, along with two other men, and Nashboro Village Apartments,where the couple lives.
When asked about the money, Jelani Lewis said, ''that's not even important. Whatis important is that all three individuals are prosecuted to the fullest and then getting new laws that this state should have on record.''
Stephen S. Ogle, Crawford's attorney, said Crawford did not kill Gizmo or kick the dog. Ogle said he thinks that a jury will find his client not guilty. Crawford moved out of the apartment complex and lost his job working at the apartments.
The two other men named in the civil suit are Micheal Lee Davis and Andrew Jacob Rothlisberger, both of which have not been charged of any crime. Lewis' lawsuit said all three men celebrated, saying the dog was ''so dead,'' and cheering when the dog was kicked into the air and killed.
Hearing's for Crawford, who was charged with misdeameanor cruelty to animals and felony vandalism, are scheduled for next week in the Davidson County General Sessions Court. Attorney Stephen Ogle filed court papers asking that the felony vandalism charge be changed to a misdemeanor. According to the police, the felony is based on the dog's value of $1,500. Ogle said Lewis demanded $400 from Crawford the night of his client's arrest. Furthermore, he said, the dog is not worth $500, a level of damage that causes a vandalism charge to become a felony.
''It's a vandalism case, and it has caused all this outrage because of a
piece of property that was a dog,'' Ogle said. ''If it was a mailbox, it
wouldn't have this kind of a furor. . Not to diminish what it feels like to
lose a dog, but that's not the test in the criminal case.'' | | Update posted on Jun 13, 2004 - 11:19AM |
References« TN State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Davidson County, TN
|
