Dog Stomped To Death, Cartersville Man Sentenced To Prison

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A 62-year-old Cartersville man received a five-year sentence Tuesday for multiple offenses, including a cruelty to animals charge for stomping a female dachshund to death.

Stephen Michael Freeman’s sentence — one year behind bars, the rest on probation — was handed down by Cherokee Judicial Circuit Judge D. Scott Smith, reported The Daily Tribune News.

Freeman also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of tampering with evidence for trying to bury the dachshund after he killed it, the Cartersville paper reported.

The charges stem from an October 2021 incident that started with an early-morning argument about the dog between Freeman and his fiancé.

“Stephen became angry with the dog and even more angry once it accidentally urinated on the carpet,” wrote the Bartow sheriff’s deputy in his incident report. “(The fiancé) stated this is when Stephen became very irate and kicked the dog down 14 stairs inside the residence.”

The report went on to say that Stephen followed the dog down the stairs and “began stomping its neck several times with severe force, eventually causing the dog to become deceased.”

Freeman, who later claimed he had “picked up the dog and carried her downstairs and got her food and water,” had already started digging a hole to bury the dog when the deputy arrived, according to the report. Freeman was then arrested without further incident.

According to The Daily Tribune News, Freeman entered an “Alford guilty plea” that maintained his innocence but admitted there was enough evidence against him to potentially find him guilty if tried.

In addition to pleading guilty to one count of aggravated cruelty to animals and two counts of tampering with evidence — all felonies — Freeman pleaded guilty to several previous drug and driving-related charges. Sentences for those charges will be served concurrently with the animal-cruelty related charges.

According to online records, Freeman currently is being held in the Bartow County Jail.

Read the story in The Daily Tribune News.