Bani Mezquititla, 19, has been held in jail since he was arrested final March. The state will ask he obtain 5 years in jail:
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ASBURY PARK, NJ — An Asbury Park man admitted to sexually assaulting and killing his pet cat final yr, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago introduced Wednesday.
The man is Bani Mezquititla, 19. He pleaded responsible this week.
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He will probably be sentenced in June, at which era the prosecution will ask that he obtain 5 years in state jail, in addition to a court docket order completely banning him from ever proudly owning, residing with, or having custody over any animal.
Prosecutors say Mezquititla raped his pet cat “Ellie” a number of instances and strangled her repeatedly. The abuse occurred inside his Asbury Park residence, and went on for a several-month interval, till the cat ultimately died on March 2, 2023.
Warning: Graphic particulars under that could be upsetting to some readers.
The abuse began round Christmastime: On a number of events, he strangled the cat with a pulley system utilizing his white mobile phone charger, the doorknob and a dresser knob. While strangling her, he would use miniature handcuffs to tie her limbs behind her again. This occurred a number of instances and he would document the strangulation on video and take selfies.
When he was first arrested, detectives requested if he had ever had sexual relations with the cat, and Mezquititla laughed and stated “No, I’m not a psycho.”
He later admitted to masturbating in entrance of the cat, sticking a pencil contained in the cat and utilizing his penis to have intercourse with the cat, a number of instances. This included ejaculating inside and outdoors the cat, stated prosecutors.
A autopsy examination discovered that Ellie confirmed indicators of sexual trauma, each vaginally and rectally. She had inside puncture wounds, indicative of being penetrated with a pointy object.
Additionally, “somebody reduce her decrease jaw and tongue off with a pointy device. This occurred pre-mortem, that means whereas Ellie was nonetheless alive,” stated prosecutors. “He dissected her whereas she was nonetheless alive.”
Detectives additionally discovered movies on Mezquititla’s telephone that confirmed the cat being pulled up by the neck within the pulley system. In one video, she is suspended within the air and seems lifeless. In different movies she is shaking and twitching. In one other video, Ellie is seen awake her mouth open, showing to gasp for air, and clawing on the wall and within the air as she is strung up within the air.
“You can see the cat struggling for its life and in the identical image you possibly can see him smirking,” stated the assistant prosecutor.
He is alleged to have strangled the animal utilizing his mobile phone twine after which threw her physique out his bed room window. Mezquititla informed his roommate he had killed his cat, and he or she is the one who introduced the animal’s physique to Asbury Park Police headquarters that day.
This week, Mezquititla pleaded responsible to:
- Animal Cruelty by Tormenting, Torturing or Unnecessarily or Cruelly Abusing a Living Animal Resulting in its Death
- Animal Cruelty by Using or Causing or Procuring the Use of an Animal or Creature in Any Kind of Sexual Manner (each third-degree crimes)
He has been held within the Monmouth County jail since he was arrested final March.
Prior: Graphic Testimony: Asbury Park Man Accused Of Raping, Torturing Cat (March 2023)
