Police have charged a Hopewell man with killing a pit bull in Petersburg.

Gerald Dupree of the 3900 block of London Drive in Hopewell is charged with animal cruelty and discharging a firearm in the city on May 27.

Anna Wallace had two pit bulls, Diamond and China. The family lives on St. Mark Street.

She said Diamond, which she has had for three years, was shot to death by an air conditioning repairman.

"The man saw the dog in the yard and secured his pistol from his vehicle. He told me the dog was coming at him, so he shot him," Wallace said.

"The dogs weren't vicious. I kept both of them in the house until I had a baby. They have lived outside since then. Children play in the yard. The dogs, both females, never bothered them," she said. "I was inside the house when the shooting took place."

Wallace, who has three school-age sons, moved to Petersburg nearly four years ago from Blackstone. She works at the Hiram W. Davis Medical Center at Central State Hospital.

"Now I have been notified by my landlord to either get rid of my dog or move out of the house within 30 days," she said.

There is some question about whether Wallace's dogs should have been living in the home in the first place. Mike Johnson of Grucer and Falk Real Estate said Wallace's lease states that no pets are allowed in the rental property.

"We will remedy this as soon as possible," Johnson said. "She has 21 days to remedy the current situation or in 30 days she must move from the property. This is a pet issue, not a pit bull issue."

Wallace has a different understanding of her lease.

"The lease said there would be a pet fee, but they said they would contact us when to pay and they haven't contacted us," Wallace said.

Other residents in the area who rent from Grucer and Falk Real Estate also have received letters indicating their homes will be checked to see if there are pets.

Update 7/11/05:  Gerald Dupree, 56, of the 3900 block of London Road, Hopewell, was charged with discharge firearm in public place and animal cruelty on July 2.

Update 7/14/05:  When Anna Wallace called maintenance to fix the air conditioner at her Petersburg rental home in May, she never thought that in a matter of minutes her dog would be dead.

Gerald Dupree , a maintenance worker accused of shooting and killing Wallace's 3-year-old red-nosed pit bull, was appointed an attorney in Petersburg General District Court. Dupree faces two misdemeanor charges: cruelty to animals and discharge of a firearm in public. His trial is set for July 25. He faces a maximum $2,500 fine or 12 months in jail, or both.

Outside of court, Wallace said she returned to her hot and humid St. Mark Street home on May 27 and realized that her air conditioner was not working.

Minutes later, Dupree showed up to fix it. Not long after his arrival, Diamond the dog was dead. Wallace said the dog was shot once in the back of the neck.

Wallace alleges that after the incident, Dupree told her he shot the dog because it tried to attack him. Diamond, who had been chained, had freed herself and may have been running around the yard, Wallace said.

"If he had time to walk to his car and get a gun, he could have came and told me that he wasn't comfortable being around Diamond," Wallace said. "He should have told me."

Dupree left the court building without comment after the hearing. His lawyer, Henry Otis Brown, declined to comment.

After the incident, police and animal-control officers arrived. Dupree resumed work on the air conditioner.

"In the three years I had Diamond, she never caused anyone any harm. She was friendly and my children loved her," Wallace said. "Our air conditioner works, but Diamond's gone."

Update 7/26/05:  Dupree testified that he shot and killed a 3-year-old red-nosed pit bull because he felt his life was in danger.  "I was afraid to death," Gerald Dupree said during his trial.

"It seemed worse than when I was in combat," the Army veteran said of the confrontation.

Judge Lucretia A. Carrico of Petersburg General District Court found Dupree not guilty on both charges and said Dupree's perception that he was in danger was reasonable and that he acted in self-defense.

Ken Blaylock, assistant commonwealth's attorney in Petersburg, questioned whether "there were other things [Dupree] could have done that would have been more reasonable" than shooting the dog.

Dupree testified that as he walked to the backyard to begin work, he "noticed two pit bulls and hesitated." Both dogs were chained and barking, he said.

Dupree then walked back to his truck to retrieve his tools and also brought his gun.

"It was like a second thought to take the pistol with me," Dupree said. "I wasn't expecting anything to happen."

According to Dupree, the pit bull, named Diamond, somehow got free of her chain and was running toward him as he knelt down. Dupree said he jumped up, grabbed the pistol and fired.

Diamond turned and ran about 15 to 20 feet in the opposite direction before she headed toward Dupree again. Dupree shot a second time.

Dupree said he didn't have time to run and tell someone about the dog because she "was too quick."

Wallace, who was in her home with her baby, saw Diamond lying on the ground from her window after she heard the gunshots. She walked outside where Dupree displayed his gun and a concealed-weapon permit in his hands, unloaded the gun, apologized for shooting her dog and continued working on the air conditioner.

Blaylock argued that Dupree didn't know if the dog was being playful when it ran toward him and that Dupree may have been "oversensitive to the dog" because he had been bitten before by another dog.

Wallace, who said she believes Dupree could have told her he was uncomfortable around her dogs instead of getting his gun, testified that Diamond was friendly and energetic and had never attacked anyone.

Henry Otis Brown, Dupree's attorney, said Dupree saw the dog as a "clear and present danger. So he shot the dog to save himself."

Reference:

Richmond Times-Dispatch

The Progress-Index