CLEVELAND, Ohio — A woman convicted of killing her boyfriend’s puppy who failed to show up to court for her sentencing turned herself into authorities on Wednesday.
Court records show Deanna Caraballo was booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail Wednesday, two days after a Judge Joseph D. Russo issued a bench warrant for her arrest when she didn’t show up to be sentenced on a felony animal abuse charge.
Caraballo’s attorney, David Kraus, said his client was scared of the potential of going back to jail and was having “transportation issues” on Monday.
Judge Russo ordered Caraballo to stay in jail until her new sentencing date, which was set for March 6.
PAWS Ohio had offered a $500 reward for information leading to Caraballo’s arrest after she failed to show to court.
Caraballo had been free on personal bond since she pleaded guilty last month to killing her boyfriend’s 8-week-old puppy, Smokey, during an October argument outside her home on Cleveland’s West Side.
Caraballo picked up the dog and slammed it against the ground. The impact snapped the dog’s neck, killing it, police said.
She was arrested and charged under a state law that went into effect in September that made abuse against a companion animal a fifth-degree felony, instead of a misdemeanor. The law is known as Goddard’s Law, named after former WJW meteorologist and longtime animal advocate Dick Goddard.
The maximum penalty under the law is one year in prison. Caraballo spent more than three months in Cuyahoga County Jail before she was released last month.
To comment on this story, please visit Wednesday’s crime and courts page.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
