The dog's owner tells us animal control ordered an autopsy and found it had died from blunt force trauma.
The dog's owner says she was no threat to anyone. His Shih Tzu weighed just nine pounds, was blind and had no teeth.
She loved it out here. It's one of her favorite spots, so we decided to bury her here with my mom and grandma.
Nathan McDaniel laid to rest his life-long companion today, his 15-year-old Shih Tzu named Baby Girl.
McDaniel says his dog was murdered last week, after he got into an argument with his neighbor.
“Sometime that night, her boyfriend, Christopher Brooks, beat our dog with a golf club,” he says. “He beat her to death right here in the yard, stomped on her, kicked her.
The next morning, McDaniel says he found his dog here, lying on the sidewalk two blocks away.
“I started crying, I was hurt really bad,” McDaniel says. He called animal control. Since then, McDaniel says Brooks has threatened his wife, Robin, and their 16-month-old son.
“He said, ‘I killed your dog, what more do I have to do to you guys?’” according to McDaniel's wife, Robin Sleeman. “He said, ‘Next will be your son.’”
Brooks is no stranger to violent behavior. Records show he was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon last year and has several other assaults dating back to 2004.
Earlier Monday, Newschannel 3 attempted to ask Brooks about the dog attack allegations, but no one came to the door.
This family says they're relieved Brooks was arrested tonight. They want justice for Baby Girl.
“I hope he goes to prison for this, I do, I really do,” Sleeman says.
McDaniel says Brooks put up a fight when law enforcement came to pick him up about an hour ago.
He says Brooks was hiding in the basement and had to be dragged into the patrol car.
(WWMT - May 20, 2013)
