Tampa woman sentenced to 5 years in prison for beating dog with rubber mallet
TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa woman who admitted to beating a dog with a rubber mallet was sentenced to more than five years in prison Friday.
Prosecutors and the dog's owner, Kimberly Johns, urged the judge to come down hard on Elizabeth Jaimes, who was recorded on a hidden camera beating Johns' husky, named Maya.
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"What she did to Maya for 151 days, my dog lived in fear," Johns said during the sentencing hearing. "It's a living thing and she just abused her and abused her, over and over."
Prosecutors said Jaimes moved into a home in Tampa with her boyfriend, his mom and his mom’s dog in August 2022.
Maya was otherwise healthy, but not too long after Jaimes moved in, Johns started noticing cuts on her head and took Maya to the vet, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said.
About a month later, Maya was back at the vet with a twisted toenail. A month after that, the husky had to get six staples in her head, and a few days later, Maya’s owner took her to the vet again because she struggled to walk.
Elizabeth Jaimes shown in HCSO video
The vet advised setting up a camera because the vet suspected some type of abuse was occurring. What the camera captured is disturbing.
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"Not counting the ongoing abuse starting from August of 2020, the defendant struck Maya 38 times with a mallet and 26 additional strikes," prosecutor Karry Becker told the judge.
The veterinarian who treated Maya said the dog had fractured ribs and spinal injuries. She said there was also evidence some of Maya's bones had been broken and re-broken after healing, indicating abuse that likely occurred before the instances that were recorded.
Elizabeth Jaimes
Maya is OK, but goes to the vet for ongoing treatment for her extensive injuries.
"I think it's a miracle that Maya's alive," Dr. Jerika Brooks, Lead Shelter Vet for the Pet Resources Center, said during the hearing.
"I've been a prosecutor for almost 20 years, and I personally have never had a case that's been this egregious," added Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez. "The crime was appalling. It was shocking. And, of course, the fact that it was captured on video made it even worse. So the judge was able to see what it is that Miss Jaimes did to Maya. In Hillsborough County, animal cruelty will not be tolerated."
Jaimes asked for leniency, claiming she has PTSD after suffering abuse herself. She also said she doesn't remember the beating that was recorded on camera.
"I don't remember what I did that day and I've been going to therapy because I've never done anything like that. I've never put my hands on anybody, but that doesn't excuse it. So I just wanted to apologize," Jaimes said.
Neither prosecutors nor the dog's owner believed she'd felt remorse.
"One of us wouldn't get away with it with a human and she shouldn't get away with it with an animal," Johns said.
Maya, meanwhile, is okay but goes to the vet for ongoing treatment for her extensive injuries.
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