Connecticut: Donnell Williams charged in dog killing held on $300,000 bond

CONNECTICUT -- A city man, accused of fatally shooting a Black Rock family's dog -- and operating a major illegal drug factory -- was ordered Friday held in lieu of $300,000 bond.

Donnell Williams, 22, his hands shackled behind his back, was brought before state Superior Court Judge Howard Owens.

During the brief court hearing, Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Marcello urged the judge to set a high bond for Williams, citing the serious nature of the charges, and the fact that Williams has a previous robbery conviction.

But Williams' lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Jeff Magut, countered that his client is a lifelong resident of the area and until recently had been working as a painter. The judge sided with the prosecutor and after setting the bond, ordered the case continued to Dec. 2.

On Thursday morning, local police and U.S. marshals, searching for Williams for the dog shooting incident, walked into what they said appeared to be a major illegal drug packaging operation.

They seized a rifle, two handguns, nine bags of cocaine, a digital scale and drug packaging supplies, they said.

Williams was charged with cruelty to animals, unlawful discharge of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor, criminal possession of a firearm and carrying a pistol without a permit on a warrant. But as result of the raid, he was also charged with possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics in a drug factory, two counts of possession of a firearm and risk of injury to a minor.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit of Det. Heitor Teixeira, on Sept. 12, a 12-year-old boy was playing with his neighbor's dog, Buddy, in the neighbor's yard on Harbor Avenue when Williams walked over and shot the dog in the head. Williams then calmly walked down the street with the gun in his hand, reports said.

Police said the boy was traumatized by the incident. For some time he had been begging the dog's owner to let him play with Buddy. She finally agreed moments before the dog was killed in front of the boy.

The shooting sparked outrage in the Black Rock neighborhood, and residents demanded justice for the friendly black-and-white canine.

Police later identified the dog killer as Williams.

Before the raid, members of the U.S. Marshal Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force received information that Williams was living in an apartment on Brewster Street. Shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday, marshals and police detectives surrounded the multifamily house.

Task force member Det. Robert Martin said marshals and detectives burst through the front and back doors and ordered Williams, who was in the kitchen, to lie on the floor. Then they made their second discovery.

There was a scale and drug packaging materials on the dining room table, he said, along with more than $1,000 in cash. Three bags of cocaine were found under a sofa along with boxes of bullets. Martin said more boxes of bullets were found in a bedroom, along with two handguns. In another bedroom, a baby was asleep in a crib, with a loaded, high-powered rifle with a telescopic sight nearby.

(CT Post - Nov 18, 2011)