Kitten stomped to death
Greensboro, NC (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jun 18, 2005
County: Guilford
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Salomon Velazquez Dennis
A man who told police he didn't like cats pleaded guilty on Sept 29 to animal cruelty for stomping a kitten to death.
Prosecutors said that Salomon Velazquez Diaz, 46, repeatedly stepped on the black kitten's head on the front stoop of his apartment until it was dead on June 18.
His girlfriend, Melissa A. Davis, called police to the apartment at 7734 U.S. 29 N. after Diaz put the dead kitten in a box and brought it inside, Guilford Assistant District Attorney Chris Parrish said.
When sheriff's deputies arrived, "(Diaz) indicated he did not like cats," Parrish told Superior Court Judge Henry Frye Jr.
Diaz's attorney, Scott Coalter, told the judge that his client's lack of education and line of work may have played a role in the incident. Diaz, who has lived in the United States since 1987, has only a second-grade education from his native Mexico, Coalter said.
Prior to his arrest, Diaz worked as a butcher at a Gibsonville meat market, his lawyer said.
Coalter said the cat was a stray that no one was caring for. The apartment had a "no pet" rule, and the cat had damaged some plants that belonged to Diaz, he said.
"Without anyone to take care of it, he simply terminated it," Coalter told the judge.
He said Diaz should have taken it to an animal shelter. But the man's lack of English and work as a butcher impacted his choice, Coalter said.
Diaz was arrested after the incident and charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty. But prosecutors believed he acted maliciously, and a grand jury indicted him for the steeper felony animal cruelty charge.
Diaz, who had no prior criminal record, had remained in custody since the incident. He pleaded guilty Thursday.
Frye sentenced him to 18 months of unsupervised probation and ordered him not to possess any animals. Under the state's structured sentencing laws, the judge could not have given Diaz an active jail sentence.
Coalter said Diaz is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. The conviction could result in his deportation.
Asked afterward about his client's motives in killing the cat, Coalter said, "He just didn't think it was wrong." References« NC State Animal Cruelty Map
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