[News] Second Man Indicted in Gizmo's Death

[fasteddie]

Still sad when I read the story! Makes me MAD!
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The man accused of performing the duties of a ''placeholder'' in a bizarre dog-kicking incident — which police say killed Gizmo, a Yorkshire terrier — has been indicted in the dog's death.

Michael Lee Davis, 21, of the 300 block of Delvin Drive in Nashville, was indicted on charges of intentional killing of an animal and aggravated cruelty to animals. He was arrested Oct. 7 and booked on the charges through Nashville's night court.

Davis' indictment occurred alongside that of the accused kicker, Chad Daniel Crawford, 24, who also was indicted in September by the Davidson County grand jury on the same charges.

According to police, Crawford kicked the 16-year-old dog high into the air on April 5 and caused it to die. The pet's owner said Crawford kicked Gizmo while Davis knelt to the ground, in a setup similar to the one employed by football players kicking field goals.

A third man, whom the owner spotted with Davis and Crawford, has never been publicly identified by authorities and has not been charged with any crime.

Reached yesterday by telephone at his Nashville employer, Axis Direct, Davis declined to comment. ''I have nothing to say about that,'' Davis said. An attempt to reach Crawford's Nashville attorneys was not successful.

Davis is out of jail through a pretrial release program. Crawford was arrested the day after Gizmo's death but was soon freed after posting $25,000 bail. Both men are set for an Oct. 27 arraignment on the charges. Further court dates have not been set, though it could be next year before there is a trial, said Kristen Shea, a Davidson County assistant district attorney general.

Since the April 5 incident, Gizmo's story has continued to stir response from animal lovers nationwide.

Reached yesterday by telephone, one of the dog's owners, Jelani Lewis, said that above all else, he wants the suspects to confess so he can find some peace from the loss.

''I want all three to understand what they did was wrong,'' Lewis said. ''That is the most important thing for me. I don't think that they understand that.''

Police reports say that on the night of the incident, Davis told them that Crawford had kicked Gizmo.

Lewis said the dog's death occurred when he took out the trash at his Nashboro Village apartment complex the night of April 5, when he also let an unleashed Gizmo go to a nearby grassy spot.

Lewis said he heard whimpering, and then shortly thereafter, watched helplessly as Davis knelt and held Gizmo as a football player would hold a football for a kicker.

Crawford took a running start and kicked Gizmo high into the air until the small dog smacked the pavement in the parking lot and his small frame rolled underneath a parked car, he said.

Judy Bishop, 63, of Kansas, who is with the national organization Friends of the Animals, said Gizmo occasionally still comes up as a topic on the animal lovers' vast network of e-mails and Internet message boards.

Bishop said yesterday that she has paid close attention to Gizmo's case. She said it was somewhat of a relief to hear there were indictments because ''it wasn't in anger toward an animal that nipped a child,'' said Bishop, whose animal welfare group operates in Topeka, Kan., and in Missouri.

http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=59577385