CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #4730 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
Kitten bashed to death on sidewalk
Ashland, OR (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Sep 18, 2001
County: Jackson
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: James Edward Lewis
James Edward Lewis, 30, of Grants Pass pleaded guilty in Jackson County Court to first-degree aggravated animal abuse. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, must get counseling and can't own any animals during his two-year probation.
There were four witnesses on Sept 18, the night they saw Lewis bash and kill a tiny baby gray kitten to death on the sidewalk. Four friends were hanging out on the front porch of a home in the 100 block of B Street in Ashland.
Kelly McCoy, one of the four people said, "It was a little tiny baby gray kitten. It was fluffy. We figured it lived nearby."
When the kitten ran off, they saw Lewis walk past once. The next time he walked by he had a strange grin on his face. McCoy said, "We heard the man, like, cussing horribly. He said, 'I'll f--- kill you.' He was kneeling down and smashing something against the sidewalk - I saw what he was doing and my brain didn't register it."
Lewis looked at the four and walked away. All four of them ran to the gray kitten they had been playing with earlier. The kitten squirmed a few times before it died.
One of the four stayed with the dying kitten while the others followed Lewis on foot to the Black Sheep pub in downtown Ashland. Lewis sat down to have a drink, but the police arrived before the drink he had ordered.
Eugene Thompson, Lewis' attorney, said "something snapped" in Lewis. He doesn't have a history of convictions for violent crime.
Lewis told the judge in court that he had read the plea agreement, including the conditions of his probation.
Lewis said, "I pledge myself to comply to the fullest of my ability. And being that Thanksgiving is coming soon I ask the court to take that into consideration."
With time already served, the 10-day sentence will allow Lewis to be home for Thanksgiving. References« OR State Animal Cruelty Map
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