LEBANON, Ohio — A Warren County grand jury indicted a man this week on charges related to the death of a companion animal while he was an inmate at Warren Correctional Institution.
Benjamin Holliday, 31, is charged with prohibitions concerning companion animals, according to county court records. He was incarcerated at Warren Correctional on Aug. 25 when he caused the death of a companion animal, according to grand jury results provided by Prosecutor David Fornshell's office.
Evie, a companion dog fostered through Joseph's Legacy Animal Rescue, was discovered beaten to death inside a cell at the prison. She had been in the program as part of the group's efforts to prepare her for adoption. Evie had been flea-infested, hobbled by a broken hip and nursing two puppies when rescuers found her.
"Nothing has ever happened like this," Joseph's Legacy president Meg Melampy said after Evie's death. "We're all just distraught."
Joseph's Legacy withdrew all of its dogs from the animal-assisted inmate rehabilitation program after Evie's death.
State prison records show that Holliday is currently incarcerated at Madison Correctional Institution. He's serving a prison sentence of more than nine years for robbery, burglary and receiving stolen property in Lucas County. He will be eligible for early release in 2022.
