JONES COUNTY, Ga. — A Jones County man has been indicted on several charges after he allegedly shot his 14-year-old neighbor’s puppy in March.
According to an indictment, 55-year-old John Lee Phillips faces four counts: aggravated cruelty to animals, discharge of gun near highway/street, reckless conduct, and first-degree cruelty to children.
Those four counts are the result of an incident that happened March 26 at a home on Yukon Drive. A sheriff’s office report says deputies were called to the home for a report of a dog being shot.
They arrived at the scene and met with a 14-year-old girl who was holding her puppy as it was bleeding from its rear leg. She told them her neighbor shot at the dog for being in his yard, and to be careful because he usually carries a small pistol.
A detective went to the scene and helped deputies detain the neighbor, John Lee Phillips, for firing a gun near the road. The report says he told investigators that he had been having ‘trouble’ with the neighbor’s dog for a while and that no one would do anything about it.
He also said the dog was not being aggressive and was not attacking him when he went outside, and that the dog saw the gun and ran away. At that time, he was charged with animal cruelty.
The indictment says the child cruelty charge is from the 'cruel mental pain' he caused the puppy’s 14-year-old owner.
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