ERIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN J. FLYNN
DEPEW MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO FELONY ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGE FOR BEATING HIS CAT TO DEATH WITH A BASEBALL BAT
March 1, 2022
By: Kait Munro, Public Information Officer, Erie County District Attorney
UPDATE 5/12/22: Baker will serve jail time and five years probation according to this morning’s sentencing by Judge Sheila A. DiTullio. Read the full sentencing update here >>
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 52-year-old Boyd C. Baker of Depew pleaded guilty yesterday morning to one count of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (Class “E” felony). The defendant pleaded guilty to the only charge in the indictment against him two days before testimony was scheduled to begin in his upcoming bench trial.
On February 14, 2021, at approximately 10:48 p.m., Depew Police officers responded to a residence on Penora Street after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor. The defendant is accused of hitting his cat multiple times with a baseball bat in the driveway outside of his home. A couple hours after the incident was reported, a police officer found the cat severely injured before it died. A necropsy determined that the cat, named “Roxy,” died from blunt force trauma.
Baker faces a maximum of two years in prison when he is sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio on Thursday, May 12, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. He continues to remain released on his own recognizance.
A court order issued by Judge DiTullio that prohibits the defendant from owning any animals remains in effect.
DA Flynn commends the Depew Police Department, SPCA Investigator Bill Heine and the SPCA Serving Erie County for their work in the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Megan E. Mahoney of the Felony Trials Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Christine M. Garvey of the Animal Cruelty Unit.
–Gina Lattuca, SPCA Chief Communications Officer