A woman whose puppy starved to death alone in an apartment pleaded guilty Wednesday in a felony animal cruelty case in Waynesboro Circuit Court.
Nicole Jamison, 32, was sentenced to three years in prison; however, two years and 11 months were suspended. She will likely serve 87.5 percent of her sentence, or 26 days in jail. She was immediately remanded into custody to serve her sentence.
Jamison was charged with a Class 6 felony stemming from an offense on Oct. 13. As part of her sentence, Jamison will have two years of supervised probation when she is released from jail and must have five years of uniform good behavior. She is also not allowed to own or possess a companion animal for five years as part of the plea agreement.
Commonwealth’s Attorney breaks down the case
Waynesboro Commonwealth’s Attorney David Ledbetter said the case involving Jamison was one of only a few felony animal-cruelty cases the office has prosecuted in his more than two decades in the office. Ledbetter was named interim Commonwealth’s Attorney after his predecessor, Chuck Ajemian, died in May 2014. Ledbetter was formally elected to the position in a November 2014 special election. He has worked full-time in the office since 2002.
According to Ledbetter, Jamison’s black-and-white puppy was found in a drainage ditch across the street from Parkway Village Apartments on Hopeman Parkway in Waynesboro.
A passerby reported to the Waynesboro Police Department that an African American woman was witnessed leaving what appeared to be a dog in the culvert.
Police went out and discovered the deceased dog under a rock.
The police investigation led to Jamison, a resident of the subsidized apartment complex, who cooperated with the investigation and admitted to owning the dog.
According to Ledbetter, she told police that her electricity had been turned off at her apartment, and she was living “between places” at the time of the incident. She told police she would occasionally come back to the apartment to check on the dog. When she came back on that day in October, the puppy had died.
A necropsy was done by the state lab in Bridgewater which determined the “hound mix” dog was approximately four months old and had died of emaciation.
“Starvation is intentional or extremely neglectful to the point of being willful neglect,” Ledbetter told AFP.
Because of the circumstances around the dog’s death, his office sought a felony conviction and jail time instead of a lesser misdemeanor charge.
Jamison, he said, had no prior record and no prior interactions with the police department.
The case is a “no guidelines offense” meaning there are no sentencing guidelines for the crime. A Class 6 felony conviction in Virginia means the defendant may be sentenced to up to five years in prison and up to a $2,500 fine.
Ledbetter said in cases like this, his office discusses the case together and make a decision collectively on what is a proper sentence. Ultimately, he said, the final decision is his since he is the one in an elected position.
“In a case like this, you have to balance the individual defendant with the lack of record, remorse, cooperation, economic situation and other things going on in her life versus the actual act of what she did,” Ledbetter said.
Ledbetter said Jamison had options: taking the animal to the SPCA, asking a neighbor for help or calling Animal Control when she could no longer afford to care for the dog. The investigation showed she didn’t do any of those things.
The felony conviction will have lifelong consequences, Ledbetter said, putting her “behind the eight-ball on all sorts of things: access to public housing, certainly access to employment. She’s deprived of the right to vote and the right to sit on a jury.”
He said he stands by the plea agreement in this case.
“I support the decision and the offer that we made,” Ledbetter said. “I believe it does reflect the facts of the case.”
On a personal note
Ledbetter said his 11-year-old Boston terrier was sitting at his feet during our conversation patiently waiting to go on an evening walk. He regularly takes his dog for a three- to five-mile walk after work.
He said he understands the community sentiment and anger around cases involving the torture or death of companion animals.
“These animal cases are tougher because they rend your heartstrings because your animals are like children, and they don’t have the ability, even maybe less so than children, to advocate for themselves … to seek help,” Ledbetter said.
He personally knows the unconditional love and trust of a dog having rescued two Boston terriers.
“They’re hard cases,” he said. “We just can’t imagine that happening to our own animals. There’s nothing more innocent than a dog.”
Related stories
Judge to decide fate of Virginia man who shot, killed neighbor’s service dog
Justice for Koi: Swoope man sentenced in case of dog with severe burns
Share
Crystal Graham
