Queens Man Accused Of Brutally Killing Girlfriend's Dog: DA

WOODSIDE, QUEENS -- A 23-year-old Queens man is accused of brutally killing his girlfriend's dog, whose battered body was found inside a garbage bag in a parking lot, prosecutors said.

Brando Henriquez, of Woodside, was arraigned on animal cruelty charges earlier this month after he allegedly beat his girlfriend's Shih Tzu, Lavonia, to death while alone with the pooch at her family's Broad Channel home in July, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

When his girlfriend came home to find her dog was missing, Henriquez claimed he didn't know what happened and suggested it ran away, prosecutors said.

"For the next four days, (his girlfriend) and family members searched the area and put up missing dog posters in the belief that they would find the dog alive, sadly, only to find the dog's remains where the defendant allegedly disposed of them," Brown said.

After combing the area for the two-year-old dog, his girlfriend's mother and brother found its remains on July 19 in a white plastic garbage bag dumped at a parking lot blocks from her house, prosecutors said. A necropsy later determined the pooch suffered four broken ribs from blunt force trauma.

On July 15, the day his girlfriend's pup went missing, surveillance video showed Henriquez carrying a similar white garbage bag out of her home before hiding behind garbage cans and bolting down the block with it, police said.

Henriquez also allegedly left his girlfriend two voicemails on July 20 and 21, telling her,"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" and "I'm sorry about the dog," according to the complaint. He then allegedly called his mom on Aug. 2 and told her he performed CPR on the dog in his girlfriend's bathtub after it pooped.

On Aug. 3, Henriquez was arraigned on charges of aggravated animal cruelty and overdriving, torturing and injuring animals. He is currently being held in jail on a $10,000 bond and $7,000 cash bail and is slated to return to court on Aug. 22.

If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison.

Lead photo via Shutterstock