BEAUMONT, Texas — A Groves woman was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in the death of a puppy found in a kennel outside a Groves home with no water in July 2022.
Michelle Marie Bradford, 42, was sentenced to 10 years probation Monday morning in Jefferson County's 252nd District Court before Judge Raquel West.
She pleaded guilty to "animal cruelty of a non-livestock animal" which is a third degree felony.
Bradford will not have to pay a fine or serve any jail time but if she violates the terms of her probation she will have to serve a 10-year prison sentence.
Judge West said during the hearing hat she did not feel the facts of the case warranted a prison sentence.
Bradford had faced a two to 10 year prison sentence for the crime.
During her sentencing hearing Bradford continued to say the puppy's death was an accident.
"My daughter's boyfriend was supposed to take her and I thought he did, I didn't know she was still outside," Bradford told the judge.
The internal temperature of the dog a couple hours after its death was 106 prosecutor Phillip Smith, Jr noted during the hearing.
Bradford was arrested in September 2022 nearly three months after police and animal control officers found the dead puppy in the driveway of Bradford's Taft Ave home.
The dog had been left in a cage on the driveway in direct sunlight without shade, food or water. On that date and time, a heat advisory from the National Weather Service was in effect.
The temperature was listed at 94 degrees with a heat index between 100 and 112 degrees, according to the affidavit.
During the investigation, Officer Bergeron spoke with Bradford, who said her daughter had left the puppy at the home without her knowledge.
Dr. Blake Foskey, DVM concluded that the puppy had died of "heat stroke with subsequent disseminated intravascular coagulation."
Bradford was contacted during a follow-up investigation, where she admitted she had gone inside the home with her grandson and forgot about the dog until the police arrived.
She told police she had lied at first because she was scared.
The puppy’s death sparked an outrage, with many Southeast Texans demanding a swift arrest. Animal advocates nicknamed the puppy Justice.