SUSSEX, Wis. — An 18-year-old Washington County woman has been charged with animal cruelty after she allegedly killed a dog while babysitting.
Kielee Sonnemann was charged Monday with one count of mistreatment of animals with the use of a dangerous weapon.
The Sussex family tells TMJ4 News their young daughter found the dog dead under a pile of bloody blankets on Friday, Jan. 26. His name was Batman.
The Waukesha County Sheriff's Office says it received a call Friday evening that a family found their dog dead in their home with a “possible stab wound and a plastic bag on its head.”
Deputies interviewed Sonnemann, and arrested her for cruelty to animals. She was babysitting the family's four-year-old daughter at the time.
During her interview with law enforcement officials, Sonnemann did not admit to killing the dog, but says she "shooed him away a little bit," and "when she gets mad and lashes out, everything goes blank and she does not remember," according to a criminal complaint.
After further discussion, Sonnemann allegedly told investigators "It's kind of sounding like I did it," the complaint says.
When asked if she was upset about something, Sonnemann said "there was a lot of drama going on."
"There's at least some suggestion that this was a crime of violence perpetrated in the presence of a 4-year-old child. The crime itself is very disturbing," Waukesha County District Attorney Susan Opper said in court Monday.
"We understand that these are serious allegations, but at the end of the day this is a Class I Felony the lowest level felony obviously. Miss Sonnemann is 18-years-old with no prior criminal history," Sonnemann's attorney Ricardo Tapia said.
If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison.
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