Joliet Dog Killer Must Forfeit Julie His Other Husky: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — Sebastian Trujillo, the 22-year-old resident who Joliet police say dragged one of his two husky dogs to its death inside his upstairs apartment on Clement Street in October, was the subject of multiple calls to Joliet police in the months leading up to his dog's death, according to a forfeiture complaint.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow aims to convince a judge to take away Trujillo's surviving dog, a year-and-a-half old female husky named Julie.

Julie would be forfeited to Joliet Township's Animal Control, and Trujillo would relinquish all ownership rights to his dog, the complaint outlined.

The Nov. 4 forfeiture complaint outlines the events that led Joliet police to take Trujillo away in handcuffs on Oct. 24, charging him with aggravated cruelty to animals and cruelty to animals.

Trujillo was freed from the Will County Jail the following night after posting 10 percent of his $25,000 bail.

This month's forfeiture complaint states the following events led to Trujillo's arrest:

Joliet police officer Katelyn Kozielski was sent to the 100 block of Clement on Oct. 24, and she wore her body camera the entire time.

Kozielski and a second officer found Trujillo at his apartment, and he told them his dog was dead. Trujillo took them to the upstairs family room and the officers found Jillo, the dead dog, inside the bathroom's shower. The dog was 2 years old.

"He further stated that Jillo had been in a kennel and had made a mess by defecating in it ... in an attempt to clean up the mess, he tried dragging Jillo by his collar but that Jillo was able to escape the collar and to run away under a large table in the room," according to police reports.

The report said Trujillo told police he then put a thin leash known as a slip lead around his dog's neck "so that he could drag the dog from out from under the table. This slip lead created a noose so that the dog could not escape the dragging."

Trujillo told the officers "he dragged the dog, Jillo, and then Jillo, suddenly pulled back and became limp .... before dying."

No one else was in Trujillo's apartment when the dog died, and nobody entered the apartment before Joliet police responded to the call, accoring to police.

His second husky dog, named Julie, was scanned for a microchip by the Joliet Township Animal Control.

Neighbor Made Police Complaints

The woman who lived in house apartment No. 2 on Clement Street said she previously called Joliet police numerous times over the past couple years to report the upstairs neighbor "was physically abusing his dogs. The woman stated that on Oct. 24, she heard the man in the upstairs apartment screaming at his dogs and heard dragging across the floor. She could hear dog nails being dug into the flooring. She stated she heard a dog crying out in pain and that she heard this on several other occasions," the forfeiture complaint noted.

On Oct. 24, the same neighbor heard "a large thump and then silence. She described the thump to be similar to someone dropping a piece of furniture in the upstairs apartment. She stated that she had never heard the silence before and that during previous beatings, the dogs would continue to cry. She then heard the man upstairs began to cry, and she believed he had killed his dog, so she called Joliet police," Trujillo's complaint reflected.

Officer Kozielski confirmed that Joliet police "did respond four times for calls related to animal cruelty and welfare checks for both dogs," court files show. One of those calls came from the same neighbor.

Another witness in the case told Joliet police that "she witnessed Sebastian Trujillo cruelly treat, neglect, viciously beat and slam Jillo to the ground numerous times over the last two years," court documents show.

One of her reports made to Joliet police occurred on June 7, about four-and-a-half months prior to Jillo's death.

That witness told Joliet police how Trujillo rarely let Jillo out of his kennel, causing the dog to regularly defecate and urinate in the kennel, "and (Trujillo) would then bring the dog to the shower and beat him while washing the feces and urine off of him all while the dog would cry from the beating," the forfeiture outlined.

In closing, Will County prosecutors are asking for a judge to rule that Trujillo relinquish all rights to Julie, the seized animal, "and that the seizing agency be permitted to place the seized animal up for adoption or that the seizing agency be permitted to humanely euthanize the seized animals."

Back in late October, Trujillo's criminal defense lawyer Neil Patel told Joliet Patch, "I just know he's really distraught. He was crying when he was in court when the State (prosecutors) was going through the factual allegations."

Patel also told Patch how his client, "Loved them both."

However, Patel was not prepared to discuss his defense strategy or answer any questions about the events that led up to Jillo's death.

"I just need to get the facts. We need to obtain all of the records of the case along with any veterinary records for the animals," Patel said at the time.