GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Aaron Jay Dekkinga was sentenced to six months in jail Wednesday for killing his girlfriend’s family dog while she was on vacation.
The 23-year-old Wyoming man apologized for his actions in court, saying he was drunk and on drugs at the time of the incident. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of killing and torturing an animal.
Wookie, a 6-year-old Pomeranian, was killed in February 2015 when Dekkinga was watching the dog while his girlfriend was on vacation with her family at Disney World. Dekkinga was charged in October.
A local veterinarian found that Wookie had bruises, a broken pelvis and multiple broken ribs. They concluded that the animal was beaten to death.
Baleigh Szabo, Dekkinga’s former girlfriend, told FOX 17 in October that she received unsettling texts from him while they were on vacation.
“He had said, ‘Maybe Wookie ate a dirty diaper and got sick from that.’ Nothing had made sense. We kept calling, and he wouldn’t answer.”
FOX 17’s previous report from October:
