ASBURY PARK, NJ — Graphic allegations were made Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court against an 18-year-old Asbury Park man accused of raping and torturing his pet cat for months, until it eventually died. cat on March 2.
The man is Bani J. Mezquititla. His defense attorney requested that he be released on bail, but Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn denied that request, ordering him to the Monmouth County Jail pending a trial or a plea agreement. .
The court hearing was held Tuesday in Monmouth County Superior Court.
The cat, Ellie, died on March 2. Mezquititla told her roommate that she killed her cat, and she brought the animal’s body to Asbury Park Police headquarters that day.
He allegedly strangled the animal with a cell phone cord and then threw its body out of his bedroom window.
On Tuesday morning, the assistant prosecutor read the charges against Mezquititla in a somber tone:
The abuse had been going on for the past several months, starting around Christmas: On multiple occasions, she strangled the cat with a pulley system using her white cell phone charger, doorknob and dresser knob. While strangling her, he would use small handcuffs to tie her legs behind her. This happened many times and he would record the strangulation on video and take selfies.
The detectives then asked if he had ever had sex with the cat, and Mezquititla laughed and said “No, I’m not psycho.”
He later admitted to masturbating in front of the cat, sticking a pencil inside the cat and using his penis to have sex with the cat, multiple times. This included ejaculating inside and outside the cat, prosecutors said.
A post-mortem examination found that Ellie showed signs of sexual trauma, both vaginal and rectal. He had internal puncture wounds, indicating penetration by a sharp object; other media reports that it is a pencil.
Additionally, “her lower jaw and tongue were cut with a sharp tool. This happened pre-mortem, meaning while Ellie was still alive,” prosecutors said. “He dissected her while she was still alive.”
Detectives also found videos on Mezquititla’s phone showing the cat being pulled by the neck on the pulley system. In one video, he is suspended in the air and appears to be lifeless. In other videos he is shaking and twitching. In another video, Ellie is seen awake with her mouth open, appearing to be gasping for air, and groping against the wall and the air as she hangs in the air.
“You can see the cat fighting for its life and in the same picture you can see him grinning,” the assistant prosecutor said.
Mezquititla’s defense attorney argued that he should be released on bail, saying there was no evidence that he harmed anyone.
But Monmouth prosecutors say he is a danger to public safety and want him jailed.
“The violence he committed here was shocking to the conscience,” prosecutors said. “Animal cruelty especially this is sadistic is the kind that makes someone a serious risk to humans… He did this because Ellie is defenseless. He is a danger to anyone who is defenseless.”
Mezquititla was charged with one count of animal cruelty by torture, torture or cruel abuse of a live animal, resulting in its death, and one count of using an animal in any kind of sexual manner , both third-degree crimes.
Anyone with information about this matter is urged to contact Asbury Park Police Detective Anthony Houlis at 732-502-4582, SPCA Chief of Humane Law Enforcement Michael Goldfarb at 732-542-0040, or SPCA Lt. Michael Magliozzo at 732-440-4538.
Preliminary report: Asbury Park Man Accused Of Sex Crimes Against Cat, Torturing Animal (March 4)