Sheriff: Man Killed Preschool Son's Puppy

A 37-year-old man was arrested Tuesday after deputies say he killed a puppy by taping her mouth shut with black eletrical tape and putting her in a laundry closet outside with no food or water. 

John Scott Mill, who lived in an apartment on Landmark Drive near Irmo, is charged with ill treatment of an animal, according to the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. 

Deputies say the 6-month-old female Labrador was the pet of Mill's 3-year-old son.

Employees of a moving company found the puppy's body Tuesday while they were helping Mill move his washer and dryer to a new apartment where he planned to live his wife and son, according to the sheriff's department. After the movers found the puppy, Mill removed the electrical tape and threw the body in a dumpster at the apartment complex. 

Mill's wife, Neely Mill, told deputies that she and her son left the apartment Sunday night after she and her husband, who had been drinking heavily, got into an argument, according to the sheriff's department. Her husband sent her several text messages that night threatening to kill the puppy, but she told deputies she didn't take the threats seriously because she knew he was drunk. 

Neely Mill didn't return to the couple's apartment until Tuesday when she helped supervise the moving of the family's belongings to their new apartment, according to the sheriff's department.

John Mill is being held at the Lexington County Detention Center. A bond hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m.