A Dallas man was sentenced on June 27 to 10 years in prison for killing his girlfriend’s kitten. A jury convicted Edwon Julian, 36, of felony animal cruelty, and he’ll have to serve at least five years before becoming eligible for parole.
In the same incident, Julian was acquitted of assaulting Rosa Dismuke, who was his girlfriend at the time. This isn’t his first run-in with the law. Julian had a previous conviction in 2004 when a 3-year-old girl he was babysitting was scalded. In that case, prosecutors stated Julian held the girl in boiling water until her skin started to fall off. The defense said Julian only left the girl unattended with the hot water nearby.
The kitten named Kisses was killed last July during an argument between Julian and Dismuke. An investigation later showed Julian had grabbed the kitten by the tail and swung it off the second-story balcony. The kitten hit a drainpipe, then landed on the pavement, where it died shortly after.
Prosecutors had hoped the sentence for Kisses death would include a 20-year prison sentence. For this to occur, State District Judge Larry Mitchell would have to enhance the sentence on the grounds that the sidewalk which causes the kittens death was a deadly weapon. This, coupled with the kitten killers prior record, could have gotten him the longer sentence.
Animal activists following the case from the beginning were present Thursday for the sentencing. They believe that although Julian didn’t get the maximum sentence, this was still justice in that more than a slap on the wrist was handed to an animal abuser.
Julian is reported to have bowed his head several times during the jury trial. Whether it was in remorse for killing the kitten, or the fact he would now be incarcerated for at least the next five years is unknown.
This is a troubling case on several counts. For one, the sidewalk should have been considered a weapon. Hitting the sidewalk is what killed the kitten. More than this, the previous charges involving the 3-year-old child in 2004 is only the beginning of a violent pattern shown by Julian. The court system should have locked him up for a long time for what happened to that little girl. Then to acquit him on the assault charges is only reinforcing the fact that abusers get away with abuse toward a significant other on a daily basis.
To assault a child, then a kitten, then a girlfriend is a dangerous pattern prison isn’t likely to correct. Eventually this man will be back out walking the streets, assaulting women (or men) and at risk to any animal that crosses his path.
What do you think of this conviction? It’s a step in the right direction, but comes far short of what the judge could have done. Julian should have been made an example of and given the maximum of 20 years. Perhaps the judge will realize that when he’s eventually free and commits a crime much worse than felony animal cruelty.
Elisa
Sources:
- myfoxaustin.com
- crimeblog.dallasnews.com
over here in new zealand they are calling for harsher penalty’s, To People who abuse any animal as if they can hurt a cat or dog they can hurt a human. It sickens me when any animal is injured. Most people dont get much charged either 6 months to a few years which to me is not good emough.
I think it shows that people who threaten to harm humans means they go on to harm animals.
There’s scores of threats to harm humans on this website. (I send people here to read them all for their research on the cat-owner personality.)
I also find it interesting that you are more concerned about whether a sidewalk can be listed as a deadly weapon against an animal than the use of boiling water on a human.
Your sociopathic priorities and values are quite clear.
Hi Woody. You are the expert on the behavior of sociopaths because you are one. Yes, I would like to harm you but it is not because I like cats or because I am a sociopath. It is because you are cruel and nasty and you hurt animals. It is as simple as that.
Woody – I’ll make it a lot clearer – yes I care more about the kitten than the human. Ok – we got that straight so you won’t be needing to comment on a Cat sight about peoples preferential consideration of – cats.
Hi Woody are you enjoying contributing to cat charities with every comment you make now?
lol
We sure are enjoying your stupidity!
…as it happens his comment there was worth $5 – not a bad contribution 🙂
lol, you have a keen sense of humor, Marc. That made my day. Thank you, for all you have done for all of us here on PoC. You are indisputably the best!
he sure is puts a smile on our face makes us look at things differently 😉
I am just stunned by all this. I’m glad that this monster is behind bars. Animal abuse is bad enough, but killing the poor thing is a serious crime. The judge is sending out the message that animals have rights too. That kitten got justice.
I am a bit surprised at the ten years, but the guy could get off a lot sooner with good behavior, so it makes more sense that way. The judge wanted to make sure he was behind bars at least 2 years. (not sure on how long they keep them in Texas. Here it would be about 2-2 1/2 years for good behavior on a ten year sentence.) He will most definantly be being or stabbed in prison. No one likes a child abuser.
I wonder if a guy like this can behave well in prison – a temper gets you nowhere and I hope he ends up doing far worse and never leaving. He’ll probably commit a crime in prison.
For the first time in my life reading of a sentence of 5 years for killing a animal, in this case a cat.Laws differ in every country, especially crimes against cruelty to animals A good precedent has been set in U.S.A for animal crimes due to this harsh sentence for killing a pet cat.
I agree it is a good precedent. I love to read about this sort of thing. It sends a a good message to the cat haters and the nasty people. Someone has to video Woody in the act of shooting domestic cats and then we can put the sh*t behind bars.
You have no idea how lax our court system can be. My ex and I took his son to general sessions court when he was around 15 just so he could watch the wheels of justice turn for the criminals. As it turned out, the boy learned the best job in town was drug dealer. We watched one after the other get suspended sentences and added probation time. NO jail at all. Back on the streets selling again by nightfall. One person charged with robbing a cafe wasn’t given any time.
I was almost robbed once when I ran a store. The guy knew too many people who were in the store with me when he came in so he went to another store down the road and robbed them. Beat the lady in the head and locked her in a bathroom. Sentence is supposed to be 7 years. I read in the paper 2 years later where he was out and had committed 5 more robberies. Back to jail. 2 years later I read he’s working with kids near where I live.
Nice insight. The British system is good, however….there is always a “but”…the financial crisis means reduction in costs and inevitably leads to lowering of standards with respect to criminal justice. To a Brit the American judges seem very cavalier and easy going. In Britain criminal judges still wear robes and are very strict on procedure and getting things right. I think England has the world’s best judges! I would. The way Judge Judy dispenses “justice” does not do America a favour.
True all the way through. I challenge you with Swiss judges, I’ll bet they are pretty good too 😉 – I know all about the Canadian system from the inside sadly – not the same – too much television – it’s like something out of a movie there.
I think one thing about the US is that it has so many people in jail it almost seems like a communist or dictatorial system. Judge Judy is a joke and an embarrassment. I can’t understand why people like her – wait – or maybe I can understand 🙁
Quite a few people in our jails are there for not being able to pay child support. They either lost their jobs and can’t pay or they became disabled and the Social Security system is so slow getting benefits started that a father is either in jail or dead by the time the government pays what’s due.
Swiss judges are bound to be excellent. I don’t need to know the Swiss justice system to understand that. The Swiss are thoughtful and organised.
Exactly – he thinks it’s legal – why then doesn’t he just send us evidence of his proud killing.
A bit of info on Judge Larry Mitchell of Dallas County Court in Texas from
:
In the most recent Dallas Bar Poll, Judge Mitchell received an overall approval rating of 85% of the lawyers who expressed an opinion of his performance on the bench.
“After taking the bench, Judge Mitchell immediately installed many innovative practices. He streamlined the agreed plea system which allowed the assistant district attorneys assigned to his Court to have more time to investigate and prepare for contested trials. He instituted a new voir dire system (the jury selection portion of the trial) that was responsive to the privacy concerns of the citizens during questioning by the attorneys and which provided the attorneys with more information about the potential jurors to enable them to select the best possible jury for the case.
Among the most satisfying decisions by Judge Mitchell was the proceeding which led to the exoneration of Johnnie E. Lindsey after his conviction and incarceration for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Lindsey told Judge Mitchell at his exoneration hearing that he had sent numerous requests to the prior judge of the court asking that his case be reopened but no action was taken by that judge. When Lindsey sent his request to Judge Mitchell, the judge immediately brought the matter to the attention of the appropriate authorities. After a thorough investigation proved that Mr. Lindsey was in fact innocent, court proceedings were conducted by Judge Mitchell which led to the exoneration and release of a truly innocent man. Judge Mitchell has presided over hundreds of criminal proceedings including Capital Murder Trials, Murder trials, Aggravated Sexual Assault trials, and a variety of other serious felony cases.”
Karen, it’s good that at least he gets 5yrs, min. And I hope that you are right. 😉
I’m just glad the guy got ANY kind of prison sentence. Most of the time the punishment is nothing.
Interesting – thanks for the info Caroline. Could it be that he has principles in keeping with his own humanity? Now that would be a real judge in so far as judges can be.
I hope so, Marc.
Please update us, did you put his favorite colors again upon his grass-covered grave? Red and orange blooms! (Might it be possible that you could post a pic of your visit? — We love you, Marc. You are truly a gem of a human being. God bless you. 🙂
I’m going up there in about half an hour – thanks for asking Caroline 🙂
maybe?????? in the male prison they will find out what he did to the child. they r not real nice to people who hurt children. some of the inmates tend to the cats around the prisons & may not care much for that either. so if we r lucky he’ll get his a#$ beat several times in the next couple of years. and if we r real lucky he will not make parole in 5 yrs. if the mother of the little girl writes parole and states y she believes he shouldn’t b released, they may listen. he is violent after all
You got that right Karen. Men in prison don’t take kindly at all to people who hurt little kids. We definitely need more sentences like this to show the abusers they won’t get off with just a fine and probation.
I agree Karen and I hope he does get beat in jail. It’s hard not to want retribution or revenge on a person like this. It is a bad man who brings out the darkness in our own selves. He makes me feel dark and vengeful.
The animal activists here are determined to set an example of animal abusers. There are enough studies to support the link between animal cruelty and CDV and the courts are slowly learning to get these abusers off the streets any way they can.
I really hope you are right Elisa – that the courts really are starting to make the link and deal with it accordingly. It shouldn’t be a requirement that a human be a victim before the law gets serious. An animal can’t even defend itself and can’t speak.
I think this is an excellent sentence. Seems long to me because the max prison term for animal cruelty in the UK is “a term not exceeding 51 weeks”.
I don’t understand how they got to 10 years imprisonment pleased as I am with it.
Totally nasty person with a complete disregard for animals and others it seems too.
I agree it is good news. Hopefully he will behave like the monster he is in jail and not get out on parole.