Quinton Clayton, 21, is facing a felony count of unlawful mischief, a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals resulting in a fatality and a misdemeanor count of petit larceny. If convicted, Clayton faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Oct. 27.
After posting bail, a hearing was held in Washington County criminal court Friday in a packed courtroom where Clayton’s conditions of release were set, including that he be released to Sasha Pellerin and Victoria Stauff. Court records don’t indicate Pellerin or Stauff’s relationship with Clayton.
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| Bunny the horse with her family before she was killed |
He also can’t drink alcohol, can’t have any guns or dangerous weapons and can’t have or use a regulated drug without a valid prescription.
The drug condition was put in place because court records show on Sept. 29, nearly a week before Bunny died, Clayton was found unconscious on the railroad tracks between Cumberland Farms and Allen Lumber in Barre with a syringe sticking out of his arm. Police say he was found face down and was having trouble breathing.
Police say he was given Narcan, regained consciousness and admitted to using heroin.
According to the affidavit concerning the horse killing, written by Officer Nicholas J. Alden of the Barre City police, on Oct. 5 Clayton shot Bunny, a quarter horse valued at $7,000 and owned by Regan Howard, with a bow and arrows that he had stolen from a vehicle at the Highgate Apartments.
Alden said he received a report from a witness that Clayton and another man were on Prospect Street, where Bunny was shot, on the day of the incident, and they were going to “shoot a house or a horse.” He said he received a tip that the bow was at a residence on Granite Street.
Alden said he went to the residence and was given permission to search the rooms by a woman who lived there. He said he found the bow in a closet.
Alden said he received a report from a woman saying she had let Clayton use her cellphone and when she got it back he was still logged onto Facebook. The woman told Alden that she saw messages Clayton had sent to three other people and the horse was mentioned.
Screen shots of the messages were included in court records. In one of the messages, someone is talking to Clayton about the items stolen, including the bow, and how they can sell them. He’s also called a horse killer in the message.
News of Bunny’s death quickly made the rounds on social media. Howard, Bunny’s owner, had posted on Facebook that there was a reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever killed the horse.
In one of the Facebook messages, Clayton was sent a screen shot of the reward announcement and replied, “Yo don’t be telling anyone I did that.”
He was sent the announcement by someone else on Facebook and responded with, “Yo I know lol” and “haha buuuuuuny nooooooo lol.” [making fun of Bunny the horse that he shot and killed]
(Times Argus - Nov 8, 2016)
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