The dog's owner says a neighbor killed his pet. Witnesses said the neighbor hit the terrier with a baseball bat.
By JAMIE JONES
Published May 22, 2003
SHADY HILLS - Lanny Kress saw buzzards circling above and knew he would never see his Jack Russell terrier again.
He had searched two days for 15-month-old Kay. He had called for her, visited animal shelters. Nothing.
She was small but lively, and usually stayed close to her home on Rigsby Road, carrying her favorite toys, a plastic spider and squeaky shoe, across the yard.
Kress, 58, had recently fought with his 24-year-old neighbor, Billy Dean Jones, and wondered if Jones had hurt the dog.
When the buzzards came, Kress walked toward Jones' yard and found Kay's remains.
Someone had slit her throat and beaten her with a baseball bat.
"I sat down in the grass and cried," Kress said.
He believes Jones killed Kay.
So do Pasco sheriff's deputies, who are holding Jones on a charge of animal cruelty. Jones, who had since moved to 9135 Carter Road in Brooksville, was arrested by Hernando deputies on Sunday. He was transferred to the Land O'Lakes jail, where he was held Wednesday on $5,000 bail.
"It don't make sense why anyone would kill a little dog like that," Kress said.
Kress told sheriff's deputies that he argued with Jones on March 14 because Jones was having a party and burning tires in his yard, sending black smoke into the air.
Kress said during the argument, a teenager at the party reached down and tried to lift his dog over the fence. Kress said he yelled at the teenager, who released Kay.
Later, after the argument, Kress couldn't find Kay. Jones moved out of his rented trailer. Two days after their argument, Kress found the dog's remains and called the Sheriff's Office.
Initially, deputies doubted Kress' story. They wondered whether the dog had been hit by a car and Kress had put the dog on his neighbor's property for revenge.
But at least two people came forward and said they had seen Jones kill the dog.
One man, who was not identified by authorities, said he saw Jones hit Kay in the face with a baseball bat. He said Jones grabbed a knife, picked up the bloody dog and tried to cut her.
He told deputies that one of Jones' friends tried to stop him, and Jones cut the friend's finger. Jones later apologized to his friend and stitched the wound himself, a report states. A woman told deputies the same story.
Witnesses said Jones hid the dog behind a shed.
"I think he should be gelded," Kress said. "Kay never barked at anybody, never chased anybody. Her whole life was looking in the trees for squirrels. Oh, it's been terrible. It's like losing one of the family."
Kress wrapped Kay in a blanket and drove to his sister's house in Shady Hills. He dug a hole and put her in the ground next to his old pet goat, Elvis, and his sister's boxer, Dallas.
He planted a fern and plans to buy Kay a tombstone.
He hopes to get another Jack Russell terrier, but still misses Kay.
"It's an empty void," Kress said. "Just an empty void."
- Jamie Jones covers crime in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is jjones@sptimes.com
