New York: Darren Annovi, 43, accused of putting his cat in the oven and burning it to death

NEW YORK -- A cat in an oven was determined to be the cause of a fire that took place yesterday night in the city.

Around 9:08 p.m., the City of Batavia Fire Department responded to a call at 400 East Main St., which is the Batavia Housing Authority, for a fire alarm activation.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters entered the apartment of Darren Annovi, 43, which, according to a press release was filled with “light smoke.”

According to Batavia City Police Detective Eric Hill, he “believes” the cat was alive when it went into the oven. Hill added there is nothing in Annovi’s past to suggest he has had issues with animal cruelty before.

Hill also said he could not comment on a possible motive for the act.

Annovi was arrested at the apartment and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and held without bail.

He was remanded to the Genesee County Jail and is scheduled to reappear at 10 a.m. on July 13 in city court.

City police are working with the Batavia Housing Authority as it moves forward with its investigation.

Rich Pearson, a member of a local animal shelter, attended the court hearing and was outraged at the feline's fate.

"We are horrified by the fact that an animal died this way," Pearson told ABC station WHAM-TV. "And personally I am also horrified by the fact that this individual put at risk the lives of many other people in the apartment building where he lives."

(Daily news online - July 13, 2016)

I don't know who are the bigger idiots: The DA's who bungled this case or the 6 jurors who let this woman walk...

ILLINOIS -- A Champaign woman said twice on tape, "I put the puppy in the oven and baked him," but it wasn't enough to convict her of killing her ex-boyfriend's dog.

After a little more than two hours, three men and three women acquitted Kinny Redmon of felony charges.

"The system worked the way it was supposed to work."

"Is there anything you think the prosecution should have done differently?"

"Absolutely not. I stand behind Scott Larson who handled this case."

Kinny Redmon, a woman who many believed admitted to putting her ex-boyfriend's 3-month old puppy in an oven, walked away from several felony charges.

"I don't think anything went wrong. We can't create evidence that isn't there."

The prosecution didn't have any physical DNA evidence to offer in court; the type of scientific proof Rietz says juries prefer. But, in this case, she believes, even if they had something like fingerprints, Redmon lived in the house one East Water Street where it happened, and it wouldn't have proven anything.

"This was not as simple of a case as some people might have thought."

The state played audio of Redmon calling ex-boyfriend Dimarrio Zander from Carle saying, "I put the puppy in the oven and baked it." 

The defense says it wasn't her and claims she went to the hospital because she was sick and called Zander for a ride home.

When a video recording of her saying it again to a friend from jail was played, the defense claimed it was just a conversation between friends discussing the case and not an admission.

"We put on all the evidence that we had. There's nothing we could have or should have done differently. You don't know what is going to happen when you put a witness on the stand."

Rietz says, when the prosecution put Zander on the stand, he backpedaled, not saying specifically it was Redmon and instead saying only it was a woman.

The DA's office could have subpoenaed the phone records for both.

"That happens in these type of cases. Very similar to domestic violence cases. Someone might make a statement. Then, for a variety of reasons, they might change their mind."

Rietz says another rare thing about this case is, by law, the defendant gets to choose the number of jurors they want. This was the state's first with only six.

"There's research to support that a six-person goes in favor of the defendant. We may have to take a look at that."

Redmon and Zander have a 1-year old child together. The state issued a custody petition saying there may be evidence of neglect.

Zander has custody, but DCFS still has guardianship. The issue of where the child ends up still has to go to court.

(Illinois Home Page - Sept 18, 2015)

Earlier:

• Champaign woman, Kinny Redmon, facing jury trial after allegedly cooking puppy to death in oven

Joel Clark, who cooked dog to death in oven, arrested again

INDIANA -- A man convicted of baking his friend’s dog to death in an oven has been arrested again for violating the terms of his sentence.

Joel Clark was sentenced last Tuesday to home detention, not jail or prison time, despite the outcry from the animal welfare community.

Clark failed to properly maintain his GPS monitoring equipment and was not being monitored, according to John Deiter, director of Marion County Community Corrections.

Clark also failed to maintain contact with Community Corrections, Deiter said.

 

 

“I was not at all surprised he was arrested again,” said John Aleshire, CEO of the Humane Society of Indianapolis. “It gives me comfort that this man is now behind bars. He tortured a live, sweet pet to death”

He was arrested Monday evening and will appear in court Friday morning.

Criminal Court Judge William Nelson sentenced Clark to two years of home detention at Good News Ministries after Clark pleaded guilty to baking his friend’s dog to death in an oven.

Nelson said last week Clark is battling alcohol and mental health issues, while also holding down a job to support two children.

“I’m going to give this guy a chance, but if he screws up, he’s going to prison,” Nelson said last week.

“He should get the maximum,” said Aleshire. “This is a man with serious issues.”

A new hearing date has not yet been scheduled to determine Clark’s fate.

“One of the biggest factors in this case is that the victim (owner of the dog) pleaded with me not to send Clark to jail,” Nelson said last week. “She wanted him to get help instead. I took all of that into account, plus the prosecutor wasn’t asking for jail time.”

Court records show Clark reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on July 20 in which he agreed to plead guilty to three "D" felonies: torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal; killing a domestic animal; and escape (for violating a previous home detention order).

Nelson said he’s received letters from animal advocates criticizing the sentence.

On social media, many expressed outrage that Clark was sentenced to home detention despite admitting to violating a previous home detention order stemming from a resisting law enforcement charge.

Clark was on house arrest and living with friends in May of 2014, when one of the friends discovered her dog, Zane, dead at the bottom of a trash can.

She later opened the oven door and saw a cookie sheet and pizza pan with red dog hair and what appeared to be a toenail from a small dog.

According to the probable cause, officials performed a necropsy and found Zane’s whiskers were burned, and he had burn marks on his legs and feet.

Aleshire said Judge Nelson agreed to speak with him this week about the case.

(The Indy Channel - Sept 1, 2015)

Earlier:

• Joel Clark shoved roommate's Miniature Pinshcer in oven, turned it on and burned him to death

Champaign woman, Kinny Redmon, facing jury trial after allegedly cooking puppy to death in oven

ILLINOIS -- A central Illinois woman who is facing animal cruelty charges will participate in the first trial in Champaign County history to have six people serving on the jury instead of 12.

According to our news partners at the Champaign News-Gazette, Kinny Redmon, 24, waived her right to a 12-person jury this week.  The use of six-person juries instead of 12-person juries was decided upon as a cost-saving measure.  However, defendants will still have the choice to have a 12-person jury, if they wish.

Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz says the following about six-person juries:

"Six person juries are allowed under the law at the request of the defendant.   The prosecutor has no say in the issue, just like we have no say in the question of whether a defendant chooses a trial by jury or a trial by judge.  

"We do not see the 6 person jury as a problem because we have the same number of opportunities to strike potential jurors as we do with 12 person juries.  We will try our case the same whether the finder of fact is one person or 6 or 12."

Redmon faces charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and animal torture in connection with an incident on June 4. 

Urbana police say Redmon allegedly placed her ex-boyfriend's puppy into an oven and turning it on, resulting in the death of the puppy. 

If convicted of the charges, Redmon could serve up to eight years in prison.

(WAND - June 4, 2015)

Joel Clark shoved roommate's Miniature Pinshcer in oven, turned it on and burned him to death

INDIANA -- Marion County prosecutors say a man killed a red Miniature Pinscher by putting it in an oven, Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney reports.

Joel Clark is facing felony charges of killing a domestic animal and torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal.

According to the probable cause, Clark was on house arrest and living with friends, Christina Kelley and Richard Smith.

Kelley discovered the dog, Zane, dead in the bottom of a trash can on May 18.

She later opened the over door and saw a cookie sheet and pizza pan with red dog hair and what appeared to be a toenail from a small dog.

According to the probable cause, officials performed a necropsy and found Zane’s whiskers were burned, and he had burn marks on his legs and feet.

“There was blood on the dog’s snout and mouth,” read the report.

The remains of Zane were sent to Purdue University for a necropsy.

Veterinarian Mark Petersmann said the most likely cause of death was thermal pulmonary injury leading to pulmonary edema, also known as fluid buildup in the lungs.

Kelley told officers there were not any disagreements with Clark that may have led to the killing of the dog.

Kenney was unable to reach Clark’s public defender for comment.   
  
He is scheduled for a pretrial conference September 10.

He is also facing a felony escape charges for violating his home detention order.

(WRTV Indianapolis - Sept 4, 2014)