BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida woman was arrested on animal cruelty charges after investigators said she drowned a dog in a pool in an attack that was caught on video.
In a video posted to Facebook, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey described the case, saying the suspect, Erica Black, “is without question the most despicable human being I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Ivey said in the video that he personally saw the video showing Black kill the dog: “The video that we have of her drowning her little Chihuahua is the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen in my life. There is a special place in hell for this woman. Until she gets there, she’s going to rot in our jail.”
[ Warning: Video contains graphic content and may be disturbing ]
Deputies said the dog was killed in October, but that investigators only recently found out about the abuse after Black’s roommate gave them the video of the incident, WFLA reported.
Ivey said the video shows Black holding the dog, named Sadie, underwater for several minutes. Ivey said the video shows Black then left the dog’s body floating in the pool, took a video of it, and then slammed the dog’s body on the pool deck multiple times.
“If that doesn’t make her sick and demented enough, then she leaves the dog on the sofa for several days and then goes live on social media holding the dog up, showing people what she’s done,” Ivey said.
In the video posted by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Ivey walks Black toward the jail, and says, “Usually when I’m walking people into jail, I have something to say to them. I’m disgusted by you.”
Black was previously jailed for unrelated charges she stabbed a 68-year-old man twice, WFLA reported. She now faces an increased bond of $150,000 in that case, as well as a $15,000 bond for felony animal cruelty.