Wisconsin babysitter charged with killing family’s chihuahua is facing up to 4 years in prison

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors charged an 18-year-old woman Monday with killing a Wisconsin family’s chihuahua while she was babysitting.

The Washington County woman faces one felony count of animal mistreatment using a dangerous weapon in Waukesha County Circuit Court, WTMJ-TV reported. She would face up to 4 years in prison if convicted.

The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department said that they received a call to the family’s home in Sussex on Friday evening. The family said they had found their dog, a chihuahua named Batman, dead. He had suffered a possible stab wound and had a plastic bag on his head, department officials said.

The woman was babysitting the family’s 4-year-old daughter at the time.

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According to a criminal complaint, the woman told investigators that she shooed the dog away but didn’t acknowledge say she killed it. She said when she gets mad she lashes out and doesn’t remember things and it “kind of sounds like I did it.”

When asked whether she’s upset about something, she said “there was a lot of drama going on.”

The woman’s attorney, Ricardo Tapia, argued during an initial court appearance Monday that she’s 18 and has no prior criminal history.

Waukesha County Court Commissioner David Herring set a $15,000 cash bond for the woman during the court appearance Monday.

Herring still ordered her to have no unsupervised contact with animals if she gets out of jail. He also prohibited her from possessing any dangerous weapons and barred her from babysitting.