FREEHOLD - In a courtroom packed with activists seeking justice for a horribly abused cat, a judge Thursday sentenced the pet's owner to the maximum punishment of five years in prison for raping, torturing and ultimately killing the animal after dissecting her face while she was still alive.
"It is unequivocal that the conduct here was exceedingly cruel, it was extraordinarily brutal, it was shockingly gruesome,'' Superior Court Judge Chad N. Cagan said in sentencing Bani Mezquititla, 19, of Asbury Park, to concurrent terms of five years in prison for each of two counts of animal cruelty the defendant pleaded guilty to in April.
"This defendant took pleasure in torturing and causing unspeakable suffering and anguish to an innocent and defenseless pet,'' Cagan said.
The judge went on to recite a narrative of the case, including that Mezquititla repeatedly strangled his pet cat "Ellie” with a pulley system devised of a phone charging cord and doorknob until she went unconscious, only to revive her and torture her some more. The cat's paws were bound behind her with miniature handcuffs during the torture, the judge noted.
Mezquititla also repeatedly sexually assaulted the animal with his penis and a pencil, causing internal puncture wounds to the cat, Cagan said.
"This was prolonged torture that went on for months,'' the judge said.
The defendant dissected part of Ellie's face while she was still alive, and then killed her and threw her corpse out of his apartment window, the judge said.
"On top of it, he preserved his acts - his horrid acts - by videotaping them for his later viewing pleasure,'' Cagan said, a fact the judge repeated several times throughout the sentencing hearing.
"What strikes the court here is not only the heinous and brutal nature of these crimes, but that he preserved it and videotaped it for his future gratification,'' Cagan said. "I find that indicative of the risk that he will commit another offense in the future.''
Keri Leigh Schaefer, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, also recounted the facts, including that Mezquititla shared the video of the torture with his cousin and showed it to his roommate.
After the roommate went to the Asbury Park Police Department on March 2, 2023, with Ellie's corpse, police arrested Mezquititla and found photos of the cat in handcuffs on his phone, as well as video of the torture, including a selfie of him in the mirror, with the cat dangling from the phone charging cord, Schaefer said.
The assistant prosecutor noted that Mezquititla gave a statement to police confessing to the behavior.
Schaefer asked for the maximum term for the defendant.
"That is what is necessary to protect the public,'' she said. "That is what is fair.''
Mezquititla's attorney, William Wackowski, asked the judge to impose a probationary term on his client, which is the presumptive sentence for the crimes for someone like Mezquititla, who does not have a prior criminal record.
Wackowski said his client suffered from mental illness, probably the result of some previous trauma "that has left a scar you can't see.''
The defense attorney argued that Mezquititla needs treatment, not prison, and that without it, he'll just get out and re-offend.
"What happened to Ellie is the symptom, it's not the problem,'' Wackowski said. "The problem is mental illness.
"How about we try to save the kid,'' Wackowski said. "That would help the public in the future, if he gets his treatment.''
Cagan, however, rejected that, saying the defense did not provide the court with any expert reports documenting the claims of mental illness.
Mezquititla offered an apology and asked for another chance.
"I just want to say, I'm sorry for what happened,'' he said. "I would like another chance to become a better person. I'm willing to do anything to be a better person, so that people don't see me as a monster.''
Before handing down the sentence, Cagan noted he received "scores of letters'' from across the country, "California to Mississippi to the Carolinas, on this case, New Jersey, New York, you name it.''
He held up a stack of the letters and said he read them all.
"The court notes, under the circ*mstances, the court gave the maximum it could give under the plea agreement,'' Cagan said. "The court doesn't agree with the statute, but the court enforces the statute, and that's exactly what the court did here. I enforced the statue that bars animal cruelty, which is what occurred here in such a heinous and brutal way.''
In addition to imposing the prison term, Cagan ordered Mezquititla to pay a yet-to-be determined amount of restitution to cover the costs of Ellie's veterinary bills and necropsy, and he permanently barred the defendant from owning or residing with any animals.
Some in the courtroom started to applaud when Cagan handed down the sentence, until sheriff's officers advised them not to. Many of the more than 30 courtroom spectators wore T-shirts or buttons, adorned with a photo of Ellie, demanding justice for her.
Many of them had paraded outside the courthouse before the sentencing with placards, some bearing Ellie's photo, and demanding justice for her.
"Mezquititla raped a cat,'' one of the placards said.
"Justice for all, no matter the species,'' said another.
The courtroom spectators were not allowed to bring the placards into the courtroom.
They picked them up in the hallway after the sentencing and carried them outside of the courthouse, some of them cheering, to pose for a group photo with them.
One of the animal rights activists, Rachel Ogden of Westville, said she made the buttons with Ellie's picture on them, which she and others wore inside the courtroom.
"I just thought it was so important to have her face in the courtroom, so I had this button made,'' Ogden said.
"I'm pleased, we're pleased, with the sentence,'' said Janine Motta, director of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey.
"We recognize, too, that we need to get the Legislature to increase penalties for certain types of animal cruelty,'' she said.
She said the organization would like to see instances of extreme animal cruelty be elevated to a second-degree crime, which carries a prison terms of five to 10 years.
The sentence Mezquititla received carries no term of parole ineligibility, which means he could be considered for release on parole after serving about one-third of it.
Mezquititla has credit of 469 days toward his sentence for time he has already spent in the Monmouth County Jail awaiting disposition of the case.
Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Raping and killing pet cat nets Asbury Park man 5 years in prison
