Since I'm not an AOL member, I couldn't reach that link, bettyanne. Well, looks like the suspect admitted it to the police. Too bad, the punishment in Tennessee really isn't much at all.
Anyways, here are more details:
Gizmo had been let outside to relieve himself while Lewis took the trash out at the complex where he and Crawford live, the Nashboro Village apartments, near Priest Lake.
A new witness told her story to The Tennessean yesterday. LaTresa Cunningham, 26, a graduate student in Middle Tennessee State University's business administration program, said she had been playing with Gizmo just minutes before his death. She gave the following account:
Cunningham, who works with Lewis at a Verizon call center in Murfreesboro, was at the residence shared by Lewis and McKenzie on Monday night to watch the NCAA basketball championship game. It was late, the game had just ended, and Gizmo walked over to the couple's apartment door.
Cunningham had been playing with Gizmo during the game, shaking hands and rubbing his belly. But the dog suddenly wanted to go outside. Lewis took Gizmo out while he took out the trash.
Later, there was a knock on the door and a neighbor told McKenzie that someone had killed Gizmo.
Cunningham recalled that the 2-pound dog was dead, lying at the bottom of the stairs.
''I was just shocked and thinking, 'Who killed the dog?' and 'How?' I was just playing with the dog. I went downstairs, when we ran downstairs, saw the dog laying there. (You) could look at the dog and could tell he was dead.''
Cunningham related the following conversation that she said took place between Lewis and Crawford:
Lewis: ''Why did you kick my dog?''
Crawford: ''I didn't kick your dog. Your dog was hit by a car.''
Lewis: ''Do you think I didn't see you? You kicked my dog.''
Crawford: ''I kicked it because I didn't know what it was.''
According to Cunningham, Crawford's friend described the incident after police arrived.
''Then his friend admitted twice — two times he said it to the cop … he admitted that he saw his friend kick the dog,'' Cunningham said. |