Oklahoma: Update on case from June 2015, Kevin Lantz Jr. takes plea offer that puts him on probation for 6 years after abandoning his pets locked inside home to die

OKLAHOMA -- Back in July 2015, Kevin Lantz decided to move out of his house and into an apartment. He decided his pets - five dogs and a cat - were a hassle so he decided not to take them to his new apartment.

 

However, he didn't take the animals to the shelter, he didn't find new homes for them, he didn't even dump them on the side of the road where they would at least have a slim chance at survival.

Instead, what Kevin Lantz decided to do was move out, close the door and lock his animals inside the boiling hot house to slowly die, one by one.

Police found two of the dogs locked in a filthy, cramped bathroom. Two others were locked inside a hot garage which was covered in four inches of feces.

 

"While there, I could see a gray Weimeraner dog roaming the residence. A cat was locked in a SE bedroom.  There was a lot of feces and miscellaneous junk scattered throughout the main living area," Animal Control Officer Peggy Larson said in an incident report.

Sergeant Lanier found a window unlocked and opened it. Larson took custody of the cat and the dog, who was reported as skinny, dehydrated and covered in ticks.

Two more dogs were recovered inside the residence. The first was a black and white Chihuahua, who was reported as extremely thin and covered in ticks. The second was was a small brown dog, also very thin.

A neighbor said a man, Kevin Lantz, had been feeding the dogs, but he had not seen Lantz in several weeks. The neighbor said he believed Lantz worked at Taco Mayo.

When Sergeant Lanier made contact with Lantz by phone, Lantz said he used to live at the residence but had moved to an apartment where he was unable to take his dogs.

Lantz said the utilities had been shut off about six months earlier. Lantz said he had been throwing food on the floor and water inside pots for the dogs. He admitted to locking dogs in the bathroom and in the garage.

 

Kevin claimed that he was just too busy at Taco Mayo to find homes for his animals or to drive them to the shelter and surrender them or to simply open the door and turn them loose, saying, "I know the dogs should've been taken out, but I was caught up with work."

Kevin was charged with Felony Animal Cruelty and taken to jail. Really, they should have transported him back to this hellhole, thrown him inside and locked the door.

It appears that Kevin Lantz took a plea deal that was offered to him. And it's a pretty sweet deal for a POS like Kevin, considering the suffering he intentionally heaped upon these poor animals.

Kevin was given six years probation and as soon as that probation is over with, the case will be entered in as Dismissed. So he can tell everyone he was never convicted of animal cruelty. And he'll be right - in a legal sense.

 

Why would prosecutors be so lazy as to let him off like this? Look at the photos. The evidence is right there. He chose to leave these animals locked inside a house with no air-conditioning, inches of feces on the ground, no access to water. A reasonable person would know that these animals are going to suffer and slowly die, one by one.

Grady County.... you can do better.

Offender: Kevin Lee Lantz Jr
Gender: Male
Race: White
Height: 5 ft 11 in
Weight: 161 lbs
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Blue
Birth Date: 1/6/1988
OK DOC#: 725871
Court: GRADY COUNTY COURT
Offense: CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
Conviction date: N/A (PENDING DEFERRED)
Term: 6 Years
Term code: P&PDEF*
Sentence (probation) begins: 9/9/2015
Status: Active
Probation scheduled to end: 09/09/2021

*Deferred Adjudication
A deferred adjudication in Oklahoma (commonly referred to as a deferred sentence) occurs when a defendant enters a plea of guilty to the crime or crimes as charged but is not formally sentenced. The court agrees to "put off" sentencing to a later date provided the defendant agrees to certain terms and conditions required by the court.

 

However, if a defendant fails to comply with the rules and conditions imposed by the court an acceleration proceeding will commence. An acceleration is commenced at the request of the State which essentially asks to court to accelerate your sentencing date from some point in the future to the present.

Deferred adjudications benefit criminals like Kevin Lantz Jr. who, as long as he doesn't get arrested before 09/09/2021, gets to have his Animal Cruelty case dismissed -- as if he had never abandoned his animals to slowly die, one by one, of starvation and dehydration in a closed-up, un-air-conditioned house full of trash, urine and feces.

 

 

Earlier:

• Police: Kevin Lantz leaves 5 dogs, cat inside a home with feces, junk and no air conditioning

Robert Anthony Ivey indicted on cruelty to animals charge

GEORGIA -- The Gordon County Grand Jury returned an indictment against 31-year-old Robert Anthony Ivey on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and discharge of a gun near highway or street.

The indictment was filed in the Clerk of Superior Court’s office on August 24.

According to the indictment on or about January 3, 2015 Ivey maliciously caused physical harm to a canine name Rocco, by shooting him in the leg seriously disfiguring the dog.

Ivey is also accused of discharging a firearm without legal justification within 50 yards of a public street the indictment states.

According to a Gordon County Sheriff’s Office incident report on Saturday January 3, 2015 Deputy G.L. Prine responded a residence in reference to a dog being shot.

Upon arrival he spoke with father of the dog owner who said that Ivey shot the dog. The victim told Deputy Prine the dog was at the veterinary office. He said the dog was not in Ivey’s yard when he was shot and provided pictures of the injured dog.

Deputy Prine then spoke with the property owner where the dog was shot. Danny Smith stated he heard a gunshot and saw the neighbor’s dog fall to the ground.

Smith said he came outside and saw the dog was shot. Smith told the deputy the dog was nearly in the middle of his yard when he was shot.

According to the report Smith confronted Ivey and asked what was he doing, Ivey replied that he was running dogs off.

Deputy Prine spoke to Ivey who said the dog was in his yard and he stomped the ground to run the dog off. At that time the dog growled at him according to Ivey.

Ivey said at that point he got a gun out of the house and from the carport shot at the dog to run it off.
Ivey told the deputy the dog was in the area of his property and the neighbors when he shot at it from 90 feet away.

Deputy Prine located a blood trail from the dog. According to the report the first blood spot was located at the far side of Smith’s property while Ivey was shooting from the far side of his property.

Ivey was placed under arrest and transported to the Gordon County Jail.

(Northwest Georgia News - Sept 2, 2015)

Grand Jury indicts St. Matthews horse farmer Ronald Lee Hevener, 64

SOUTH CAROLINA -- A grand jury has indicted a St. Matthews man on five counts of ill-treatment of animals (aka animal cruelty).

Ronald Lee Hevener, 64, of Brigadoon Lane is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 8.

The case against Hevener began in April when someone complained to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office about the conditions of horses at his farm on Doodle Hill Road.

After deputies went to the farm on April 14, Hevener was charged with eight counts of ill-treatment toward animals.

The sheriff’s office at that time advised Hevener to take better care of the horses, warning him that they would revisit his farm.

 

 

The deputies returned to the farm the next month, and as a result, Hevener was ordered to surrender 29 horses to authorities.

He was also served with warrants for additional charges of ill-treatment toward animals.

Hevener is scheduled to appear in Calhoun County General Sessions Court on Tuesday of next week.

Although this article does not mention it, apparently he was neglecting his Collie dog as well.

 

  

 

(The Times and Democrat - Sept 1, 2015)

Dexter Rogers, 45, charged with animal cruelty after driving to neighbor's house and then shooting to death their dog, which was standing in their front yard

SOUTH CAROLINA -- A man was arrested and charged with shooting and killing a family’s dog in Spartanburg County.

Spartanburg County Environmental Control Director Jamie Nelson stated that Dexter Rogers, 45, of Spartanburg, was charged with ill treatment of animals stemming from an incident at a home on Bethlehem Church Road on August 27.

Rogers drove into the front yard of a neighbor’s residence, took out a shotgun and fatally shot the dog before pointing the gun at two people standing in front of the house, according to an incident report from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.

The homeowner told deputies the dog made no attempt to run toward Rogers and has never shown aggression toward others.

Jessica O’Fair, 27, said she’s not sure why Rogers came to their home to shoot their family dog, Spartacus. She said Rogers used to live at the home along Bethlehem Church Road before she and her family moved in.

“When we got home, Spartacus got outside on our property to use the bathroom. A couple of seconds later, the man pulled up on our property,” O’Fair said. “We felt like he was prepared to kill. … I saw Spartacus jump back when he got hit, and then he pointed the gun at us and that’s when he said, ‘That’s what he gets.’”

Nelson said that the dog, a shepherd-pit mix named “Sparky” died as a result of the shooting.

Rogers was transported to the Spartanburg County Detention center where he was later released. He also was charged with two counts of aggravated assault as a result of a related incident.

(WSPA - Sept 4, 2015)

William Christopher White, 26, charged with animal cruelty after dragging dog to death, says it was an "accident"

SOUTH CAROLINA -- The York man accused of dragging his friend’s dog to death says it was an accident, and that he feels “like the scum of the earth.”

William Christopher White, 26, is charged with ill treatment of animals. The York County Sheriff’s Office has accused him of tying a friend’s dog to the trailer hitch of his truck on Friday and driving down the road while dragging the dog.

White contacted The Herald on Tuesday and said he’s been broken up about the dog’s death, which he said “felt like a murder.” His voice cracked as he explained he has known the dog’s owner his entire life and that the two work together. On Friday, they had just gotten back to his friend’s Pamela Road home after eating at a Mexican restaurant, and White said he needed gas for his truck.

The friend’s son gave White the leash while he went to find a funnel, and White said he tied the dog to the trailer hitch on his truck while he walked to a neighbor’s home to ask for a funnel.

That neighbor’s home had been burglarized recently, White said, and the homeowner shouted at him to get off his property.

“I walked back and was mad,” White said, adding that in a fit of anger, he cut open a plastic bottle and used that as a funnel. “I get the gas in there, I hop in the truck and leave. I didn’t see the dog, I didn’t hear the dog.”

White said he didn’t realize the dog was still attached to his truck until the owner called him.

“He called me and said, ‘Where’s my dog, Bill?” he said. “I wanted to just cry. I did cry. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I just drug his dog to death.”

Afraid to tell his friend what happened, White said he threw the dog into a gully off of a dirt road.

“I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want him to see it,” he said. “It felt like a murder for me. I panicked. It was my best friend’s dog.”

Deputies followed a trail of blood two or three miles to where White dumped the dog. They wrote in their report that he appeared “very upset” when he spoke with them at his home and told them “he killed his best friend’s dog and to just take him to jail.”

White said the owner knows he didn’t mean to kill the dog, and tried unsuccessfully to get the charges against him dropped, but the state wouldn’t allow it.

“What kind of sick person would mean to do something like this?” White said. “I feel like the scum of the earth because of this accident.”

A felony conviction for ill treatment of animals carries up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

(Charlotte Observer - Sept 23, 2015)

Earlier:

• Dog dies after William Christopher White, 26, drags it behind truck

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

Family says neighbor’s two dogs attacked, killed their pet but will soon be allowed back in the neighborhood

UTAH -- A family's dog is dead after two pit bulls brutally attacked, biting two people in the process.

Now, neighbors are worried the pit bulls are coming back to the area without the owner's being fined or any action being taken.

A small grave in the Walker family's back yard marks where their dog, Angel, lies.

"She should have been safe in her own backyard," Patrice Walker said.

Angel was brutally attacked by two pit bulls just a week ago.

"I turned around and the two pit bulls were coming up the driveway, and I couldn't shut the door in time and they came back here and they grabbed Angel," Walker said.

In their own back yard, the family and neighbors watched helplessly.

"One dog put the death grip on her, and I think he broke her neck because her neck was off to the side and she was foaming at the mouth and the other pit bull had her by the legs and they were tearing her apart," Walker said.

 

The family tried desperately to pry Angel from the grasp of the other dogs, but they got bit in the process. Once the dog was finally released, they rushed her to the animal ER. But Angel didn't make it.

"She took her last breath probably five minutes later," Walker said.

As for the two pit bulls, "These pit bulls are now under quarantine because they did break skin of the Chihuahua owners," Walker said.

The family says an animal control officer told them no charges would be filed and the pit bulls would soon be back in the neighborhood.

The pit bulls were allowed to go back home(!)

"I'm petrified of those dogs coming back into our neighborhood," Walker said.

The family fought to have the case taken to the city prosecutors, and now Davis County Animal Control says they're working to get the citation and witness statements to the city.

"They'll look at the information they have and see if they want to press charges and what those charges entail," said Clint Thacker, Director of the Davis County Animal Control.

Charges could range from a citation to the dogs being euthanized.

"I don't want those dogs in the neighborhood," Walker said.

FOX 13 News was not able to make contact with the owner of the pit bulls. City prosecutors say it could take up to six months for any charges to be filed. As for the Walker family, they said they don't want to see this happen to anyone else.

(Fox13 - Sept 10, 2015)

Muncie Police: Jacob Rodgers, 26, beat his Yorkie puppy to death

INDIANA -- A Muncie man is behind bars for what many call an act of unspeakable brutality.

Jacob Rodgers, 26, was charged with animal cruelty Tuesday night for allegedly beating his Yorkshire Terrier puppy to death.

The investigation started after the man's roommates told police he became upset when the puppy, named Cody, urinated on his bed. They told investigators they heard Rodgers beat the dog inside his apartment, while yelling that he would kill it.

"A few minutes later, he brings the dog into the living quarters and tried to resuscitate the dog. Unfortunately, he was unable to do that and he put the dog in a plastic bag and threw it inside the dumpster," Sgt. Chris Kirby said.

Police found the dog's body in a dumpster in Rodgers' apartment complex and took it to the Muncie Animal Shelter.

An examination showed the 8-month-old puppy died of a lacerated spleen and severe internal bleeding. According to police, Rogers also admitted to trying to drown the dog.

"From the case reports that I read, it sounds like this beating went on for several minutes, up to thirty minutes," Phil Peckinpaugh with the Muncie Animal Shelter said. "Completely despicable, one of the most senseless and cruel acts that we've seen around here."

"I thought it was disgusting. It made me sick to my stomach when I read it. When I read he lived in the same apartment complex, it twisted me," William Wallace.

Rogers is being held in the Delaware County Jail on a $5,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to 30 months in prison.

(WRTV Indianapolis - Sep 24, 2015)

Last of 25 dogs in Bowie Co., TX, cruelty case dies

TEXAS -- The lone surviving dog among 25 that authorities found earlier this week in Maud, TX, has itself died. It happened overnight at a veterinary office in New Boston, TX, where the canine had been taken for treatment.

And each of the two people who face animal cruelty charges over the discovery Sept. 8 has been released on $25,000 bond from Bi-state Justice Center in Texarkana.

The 25 dogs were found while Bowie County, TX, sheriff's deputies were investigating a concern about the animals' welfare.

Deputies found 14 dead dogs and the loan survivor in kennels attached to a shop building on property in the 1600 block of County Road 1116. Another 10 dead dogs were discovered in the shop after deputies found one of the property's owners, Kelley Crow, and she gave them permission to look in the building.

 

No food or water was found in any of the kennels, authorities said.

Crow and Roy Crow turned themselves in at the Bowie County sheriff's office after deputies obtained warrants to arrest them on charges of cruelty to non-livestock animals.

(KSLA - Sept 24, 2015)

Earlier:

• Kelley Crow and Roy Crow arrested after deputies find 24 dead dogs

N.Y. man, Dmitriy Blyashuk, 20, arrested, charged with beating dog with pipe

NEW YORK -- A local man is facing animal cruelty charges after officers responded to calls for help from nearby neighbors.

Police say they learned Dmitriy Blyashuk, a 20-year-old Fuller Avenue man, beat his husky with a PVC pipe on Sunday night at about 9:30 p.m. When officers arrived to his home, they say they found the 2-year-old dog bleeding from its spine, nose and face.

Photo posted by Dmitriy Blyashuk to Google+ Jan 1, 2015

Working to rescue the animal, first responders rushed it to a vet where it received treatment. The husky will soon be housed at a police kennel.

Police say they found blood on Blyashuk’s shirt and questioned him about it, to which he explained the blood belonged to the dog.

Blyashuk is facing charges of intentionally injuring an animal. He’ll return to court on Sept. 18.

(WTNH - Sept 8, 2015)

Kelley Crow and Roy Crow arrested after deputies find 24 dead dogs

TEXAS -- Bowie County deputies have arrested two people after finding 24 dead dogs at a shop in Maud, Texas.

Officials say that on Tuesday, Bowie County Deputies Russell Crawford and Lieutenant George Huggins were dispatched to check on the welfare of dogs at a building in the 1600 block of County Road 1116.

When they arrived, they found 14 dead dogs and one living dog in kennels attached to a shop building. Huggins found property co-owner Kelley Crow, who gave him permission to look inside the shop. There, the deputies found 10 additional dead dogs.

 

The sheriff's office says no food or water was found in any of the kennels. Lieutenant David Childers was called to the scene to take custody of the surviving dog for transportation to a veterinarian for treatment.

Arrest warrants were obtained for property owners Roy and Kelley Crow. On Wednesday, both turned themselves in at the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office and were arrested for an outstanding warrant for cruelty to non-livestock Animals.

Judge Nancy Talley recommended their bonds be set at $25,000 each.

(KLTV - Sept 9, 2015)

Judge finds Regina Robards guilty of starving dogs

ILLINOIS -- When her trial came Tuesday, Regina Robards did not contest evidence that she intentionally deprived two dogs in her care of food and water until they died.

That left her judge with little choice but to find Robards, 43, guilty of felony charges that carry punishment between probation and three years in prison. She’ll be sentenced Oct. 29.

Robards, formerly of Pekin, chose a stipulated bench trial to settle the case that began last November when her landlord found the dogs’ emaciated and skeletal remains in her rented home.

“She is not pleading guilty,” defense attorney Maureen Williams told Tazewell County Circuit Judge Paul Gilfillan. But Robards also did not present a defense against the evidence Assistant State’s Attorney Mike Holly recited to Gilfillan.

“Her actions were intentional,” Gilfillan concluded. While Robards “didn’t physically kill the dogs (with) some kind of weapon,” she did “by leaving them alone with no food or water” and no way out of the house.

Why she let them die remained unexplained, at least until her sentence hearing on two convictions of aggravated cruelty to a companion animal.

Holly said Loretta Joachim, Robards’ landlord, would have testified that Robards moved out of the house at 1509 Howard Court last July and lived with her for some time. Robards claimed she returned to the house “every day to care for the dogs,” and Joachim at the time “had reason to believe her,” Holly said.

Joachim had told Holly that Robards reported one of the dogs, a mixed breed named Sparkie, died of cancer and was buried in the home’s backyard. She said she saw the other dog, a mastiff puppy named Walker, with Robards once after Robards had moved from the Howard Court home.

RIP little puppy

Joachim decided to visit the home on Nov. 24 after a neighbor reported seeing no lights on inside for weeks. She found Walker dead in the living room, walls damaged and animal waste strewn throughout the residence.

Police were called and soon arrested Robards. Five days later, Joachim returned to the house and found Sparkie’s remains under bedroom furniture. Both dogs “were basically skeletons with fur,” Holly told Gilfillan.

Robards, who listed a Peoria post office box as her most recent address, remains free on bond pending her sentencing.

(Pekin Times - Sept 8, 2015)

Earlier:

• Woman arrested after abandoned dogs found dead in Pekin house

Boy and his service dog make Iowa history

IOWA -- Tyler Gerdts, a junior at Davenport West High School, has been running cross country for five years. He was born with a brain injury and has autism, but he found a passion for running and didn’t let his disability stop him.

This season, he and his friends have a new addition to the team, Hugo, Tyler’s service dog.

Tyler got Hugo in April. This young K-9 is trained to smell gases since Tyler does not have a sense of smell. Hugo also helps him with anxiety. He also is trained to track, in case Tyler wanders off.

Tyler said, “Out of all the friends I have, he would probably be the number one.”

   

 

 

On Saturday, Tyler and Hugo together attended a large cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf. The duo ran the last race of the meet, a 5k.

“As soon as he hears his name being cheered on, boy, he takes off like crazy and he really wants people to be proud,” said his mom, Kelley Gerdts. And “proud” is exactly what Tyler did, marking two milestones already this season.

Tyler Gerdts is the first student athlete in the state of Iowa to run a cross country meet with a service dog. Kelley and her family found this out as they were going through the process of getting Hugo on the team.

The second milestone — Tyler ran his personal best on Saturday with  Hugo by his side; 28:22 personal record.

 

“I’m just very proud of him just because his perseverance is inspiring,” said Kelley. Tyler’s parents and younger sister and brother were all there to cheer him on, along with the his teammates and coaches at Davenport West.

(KWQC - Sept 5, 2015)