Kisha Carter, 25, was originally booked with two counts of a misdemeanor, simple cruelty to animals. But the Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro on Thursday upped the charges against her to two felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
She is now facing up to 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Carter was arrested on Tuesday, three days after the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received a report that a guest at the Crystal Inn on Tulane Avenue had flung two puppies from the third floor.
Another guest picked up the injured dogs and took them to an emergency veterinary clinic.
One puppy died on the way, and the other died while being cared for by the vet.
LA/SPCA's Cruelty Investigations team interviewed the person who tried to save the puppies and reviewed the motel's security footage.
LA/SPCA Spokeswoman Jennifer Abbrecht said the organization's investigators identified Carter as the person who'd thrown the puppies, and worked with the New Orleans Police Department to book her.
Abbrecht said they were black mixed-breed puppies, about a foot long and a few months old.
Carter's original charge, simple animal cruelty, is defined as one who "torments, cruelly beats or unjustifiably injures any living animal" or mistreats an animal causing "unjustifiable physical pain or death."
It is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Aggravated animal cruelty is defined similarly, though requires intent or criminal negligence.
It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $25,000 fine and requires that the defendant be ordered to undergo psychological treatment and banned from owning animals.
"We absolutely think it's appropriate," Abbrecht said Thursday of the heightened charges. "In this case, this suspected animal cruelty resulted in the deaths of two innocent little animals. Of course it's appropriate."
(nola.com - April 11, 2013)
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