Man Pleads Guilty To Stabbing, Strangling Dog To Death: DA

EAST HAMPTON, NY — An East Hampton man has pleaded guilty to strangling and stabbing a dog to death in December, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said Friday.

Jose Galvez-Garcia, 22, of Springs pleaded guilty today to aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony, Sini said.

“This individual, without any cause or reason, killed an innocent, defenseless animal,” District Attorney Sini said. “This kind of cruelty is inexcusable and will not be tolerated by my office.”

Between 7 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2018, Galvez-Garcia strangled the four-year-old cockapoo, who belonged to one of his family members, Sini said. Galvez-Garcia then proceeded to repeatedly stab the dog with an approximately 6-inch long kitchen knife in its head, neck and torso, causing its death, Sini said.

Galvez-Garcia was arrested by the East Hampton Town Police, on Dec. 3, 2018, Sini said.

Galvez-Garcia faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison; he is scheduled to be sentenced by Suffolk County Court Judge Mark Cohen on May 14, Sini said.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jacob Kubetz of the Enhanced Prosecution Bureau.

(Courtesy Stephanie Yanes)

After she was killed, Simba's devastated owner Stephanie Yanes of East Hampton wrote a letter of sorrow: "To my beautiful Simba," she wrote. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I'm sorry that you were so innocent to realize the evils in this world but God has gained another angel and now we must let you go."

Simba, Yanes explained, was a girl; she was named "Simba" because her family loved the name so much.

"Thank you for being my pillow to cry on. Thank you for letting me love you. Thank you for annoying me for food under the table. Thank you for making me run down the street to catch you. Thank you for always being the first to greet me when I came home. Thank you for teaching me how to love another dog again. Thank you for keeping my parents company when my sister and I left," she wrote. "Thank you for protecting our chickens. Thank you for making a house with pieces of furniture feel like home."

Yanes' heartbroken message of love continued: "There is so much I can thank you for but I never knew a white ball of fur would become some a huge part of my life and no one can ever understand the love our family gave you. Although we weren't the richest, and we may not have had the biggest house, you always gave us the most love and were always by our side, no matter what. I can't explain the pain that is running through my body right now but I can tell you that Simba always had the energy to keep us happy, she always put us first — she is what completed our family," she said.

After he killed her, Galvez-Garcia dumped the dog's badly mutilated body, police said.

According to East Hampton Town Police, Galvez-Garcia removed Simba from a relative's property in East Hampton before driving to a secluded, wooded area near the end of Breeze Hill Rd.,where he repeatedly choked and stabbed the dog to death before leaving her body 50' from the road.

Galvez-Garcia told investigators he killed the dog because he was "angry with the way he had been treated by a family member who owned the dog," police said.

Simba's body was discovered by one of his owners, who had been searching for the dog since she went missing, police said; authorities were then notified.

Speaking out to Patch after the tragedy, Yanes said she wanted to remain strong, for her beloved Simba to help other animals being mistreated.

"I want people to know that she was loved," Yanes said. "She just wasn't a dog — she was the glue that kept our family together."