The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Duluth Animal Hospital The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Duluth Animal Hospital
Showing posts with label Duluth Animal Hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duluth Animal Hospital. Show all posts

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Atlanta Falcon Player, Prince Shembo Who 'Kicked Ex-Girlfriend's Dog to Death' Claims He Was Acting in Self-Defense


The lawyer for the waived Atlanta Falcons player who was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty after his ex-girlfriend's dog died from blunt force trauma said the 250lb player was defending himself.

Prince Shembo turned himself in on Friday after Gwinnett County police obtained a felony warrant for the who 'kicked ex-girlfriend's tiny Yorkie to death' claims he was acting in self-defense player's arrest earlier in the day after Denicia Williams, 20, called police on April 19.

His attorney, Jerry Froelich, said the linebacker was bit in the hand by Williams' dog, a Yorkie named Dior, when he was putting it in a cage and he kicked the defenseless animal as a reflex. 

Froelich told reporters outside of Gwinnett County jail his client was crying after what happened, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

He said: “He got bit and he made a mistake and kicked the dog.

It's a small dog and unfortunately that's what happened.

He didn't mean to kill the dog.

You see the size of it. When you're a small dog, it doesn't take much with the size [Shembo] is.”

He's disappointed. It's devastating to him. When I first met him he was in tears.”

Dior suffered numerous injuries - including a fractured rib, fractured liver, abdominal hemorrhage, thoracic hemorrhage, head trauma and a hemorrhage in the left eye with internal injuries - but Froelich would not comment about the number of times the dog was kicked.

The Falcons acted swiftly after the warrant was announced and waived the young linebacker.

The organization said: “We are aware of the charges that have been filed against Prince Shembo.

We are extremely disappointed that one of our players is involved in something like this.

Accordingly, we have decided to waive Prince Shembo.”

Another former Falcons player, quarterback Michael Vick, ended up serving time in federal prison for his involvement in an organized dog-fighting ring when he was a member of the team. 

Shembo's attorney speculated that was the reason the team cut him so quickly.
Froelich said: “With the history that's gone on in this town...

The Falcons were in a little bit different position than most teams.

If you were someplace else, I don't know.”
Vick returned to the NFL after serving his time and played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets.

Before the arrest, Williams said she had taken Dior to Shembo's apartment on April 15 and that after she left the dog alone with the 23-year-old player, she came back and the animal was unresponsive.

She took the dog to an animal hospital, where he died a short time later.
Shembo told her the next day he had kicked the dog and she broke up with him.
He is 6-foot-2 and weighs 254 pounds, according to the Falcons' website.

The aggravated cruelty charge carries a minimum of one year in prison and a maximum sentence of five years, as well as a fine of up to $15,000.

The body of the dog underwent a necropsy at the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter.

The results on the deceased dog came in on May 28 and investigators revealed 'Dior had significant internal injuries and the cause of death was blunt force trauma'.

Gwinnett County police said they obtained the warrant for Shembo 'because of the inconsistencies of the suspect's account of what happened and the results of the necropsy'.

The second-year player was investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting a Saint Mary's College freshman in his dorm room in 2010 while he was playing linebacker for Notre Dame.

The alleged victim killed herself ten days later by overdosing on antidepressants and Shembo was never charged,

The fourth-round pick said after the draft: “Pretty much it was an unfortunate event.

My name was pretty much cleared.

It's behind me now. I just want to focus on playing football for the Atlanta Falcons.”

Shembo recorded 59 tackles in 16 games for the Falcons last season.




FOLLOW US!
/

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Atlanta Falcons, Prince Shembo Was Charged with Aggravated Cruelty to Animals in Connection with the Death of His Girlfriend’s Yorkie


Flowery Branch, GA - The Atlanta Falcons have waived linebacker Prince Shembo in light of the charges filed against him by authorities in Gwinnett County, GA, this afternoon.

"We are aware of the charges that have been filed against Prince Shembo. We are extremely disappointed that one of our players is involved in something like this. Accordingly, we have decided to waive Prince Shembo," the team said in a statement released late Friday afternoon.

Gwinnett County Police said they received a call on Sunday, April 19 from 20-year-old Denicia Williams, who said her ex-boyfriend, the 23-year-old Shembo, had killed her dog. The initial police report said Williams and the dog, named Dior, went to Shembo's Buford apartment home on April 15. At some point during their stay, she says she left Shembo and the dog unattended. When she later found the dog, he was unresponsive. Shortly after taking the dog to Duluth Animal Hospital for treatment, the report said, the dog died.

A day later, according to the report, Williams and Shembo were talking about the incident on the phone discussing the incident. During the call, she says, Shembo made comments to her about kicking the dog. At that point, she says, she ended the relationship.

The body of the dog was taken to the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter for a necropsy, which occurred on April 21. Following the necropsy, tissue samples were sent to the University of Georgia for further testing. "Based on the necropsy and tissue samples there was a lot of extensive injuries on the inside of the dog," Cpl. Michele Pihera said.

The lead investigator conducted telephone interviews with Shembo while awaiting the test results. Those results were completed Thursday, May 28. The dog had significant internal injuries, and the cause of death was ruled as "blunt force trauma." Because of the inconsistencies of Shembo's account of what happened and the results of the necropsy, a warrant was obtained for Shembo on Friday, May 29.

Shembo was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals in connection with Dior's death.

Details of the warrant say the dog had a fractured rib, fractured liver, abdominal hemorrhage, thoracic hemorrhage, extensive bruising/hemorrhage in muscles in front leg and shoulders, head trauma, hemorrhage and edema in lungs, hemorrhage between the esophagus and trachea and hemorrhage in the left eye with internal injuries.

On Friday, the lead investigator contacted the Falcons to inform them of the warrant, leading to their action later in the day.

Denicia Williams and Dior went everywhere together, according to her father. She even took the dog to work on modeling jobs. Her father said as soon as she learned Shembo was charged with killing her dog, she broke up with him.

"I got attached to him (Dior)," Gary Williams said. "And to be honest with you, I cried when he passed."

Williams said he never liked his daughter's boyfriend because he seemed jealous of her dog. Williams said Shembo felt second to her dog. "He showed this jealousy of a little five-pound puppy," he said. "A 260-pound man. What kind of man would be jealous of a puppy?"

Shembo turned himself in to the Gwinnett County Jail Friday night with his mother and attorney by his side. Attorney Jerry Froelich said what happened to the dog was an accident. "He was putting the dog in a cage and the dog bit him on his hand," Froelich said. "He reflexed and kicked the dog."

Froelich said Shembo agreed to pay a $15,000 bond and he was released from jail Friday night. He said he wasn't surprised the Falcon cut his client given their history with Michael Vick and his dog-fighting scandal.

At the NFL Scouting Combine in February 2014, Shembo said he was the Notre Dame football player at the center of an investigation into sexual assault allegations made by a former student at Saint Mary's College, Lizzy Seeberg.

In September 2010, Seeberg said that a Notre Dame football player had attacked her in a dorm room. Nineteen-year-old Seeberg committed suicide 10 days later. The name of the player who allegedly had been the attacker had never been made public until Shembo came forward both to NFL team executives and to the media at the 2014 Combine.

"I have nothing to hide," Shembo said at the time. "I'm still here, so I know I didn't do anything. I tell them exactly what happened."

Gwinnett County is about 15 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. 





FOLLOW US!
/