A man is accused of brutally stabbing an 11-year-old dog to death Monday in a North Carolina park as its owner watched in horror from the pickleball court.
James Wesley Henry, 43, is facing a felony charge of cruelty to animals after allegedly stabbing a mixed-breed 11-year-old dog named Beignet to death in an Asheville park, The Asheville Watchdog reported. The dog was reportedly lounging with a long leash near the tennis courts of Weaver Park where owner, Liesbeth Mackie, was playing pickle ball, the outlet stated.
“She was peacefully lying in the shade — she was tied up with a very long leash,” Mackie told the outlet. “Then my (pickleball) partner said, ‘Someone’s beating your dog.’”
Beignet, a beloved 11-year-old mixed breed, was fatally stabbed while her owner played pickleball nearby at north Asheville’s Weaver Park. “It’s so random — that’s when it becomes scary,” said Beignet’s owner, north Asheville resident Liesbeth Mackie. https://t.co/dFw9q0xcIy
— Asheville Watchdog (@AvlWatchdog) June 27, 2023
Witness Eric Hulin was also on the pickle ball court and recalled the alleged incident, telling the Asheville Watchdog he was first alerted to the situation after hearing “pretty violent sounding language.” Soon after, Hulin realized there was a situation developing with Mackie’s dog.
“I saw the attacker, definitely with all of his strength — with what I thought at the time was a closed fist — slamming on the dog, really,” Hulin stated. “I turned and looked at the dog, and saw its last couple of yelps and twitches. It was covered in blood. There was blood everywhere. It took me a moment because I wasn’t sure what happened.”
Hulin told the outlet when he approached the alleged attacker, “he started walking away quite casually like nothing even happened.”
Zen Sutherland, 68, also witnessed the alleged incident and pursued the attacker, telling the outlet the man was “yelling at himself, or the world or the injustices of life or whatever.” Though Sutherland said the attacker was aware he was being followed, Sutherland kept pursuing him until police took him into custody, the Asheville Watchdog reported.
“I recognized that he was angry with the world and he had a problem with people following him, but at the same time, I thought, ‘What can I do? What can I do as a person?’” Sutherland stated.
While Sutherland said Henry went with police officers peacefully, he argued that the incident is a reflection of the growing crime problem in Asheville, coupled with rampant drug use and homelessness. (RELATED: Asheville, North Carolina Forced To Address Crime Following Push To Defund The Police)
Those observations were seconded by Mackie’s friend Elizabeth Byrd, who was left horrified and outraged by the attack.
“When horrific violent random crimes happen in the middle of the day, that’s when it gets scary, and that’s what’s happening right now in Asheville. I blame the mayor and city council for not controlling this mentally ill homeless population,” Byrd told the outlet.