Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 52-year-old Boyd C. Baker of Depew was sentenced this morning before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio to 6 months in jail followed by 5 years of probation.  

On February 14, 2021, at approximately 10:48 p.m., Depew Police officers responded to a residence on Penora Street after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor. The defendant is accused of hitting his cat, “Roxy,” multiple times with a baseball bat in the driveway outside of his home. The severely injured cat suffered for a few hours before it was found by police. The cat died a short time later. A necropsy determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Baker pleaded guilty to one count of Aggravated Cruelty to Animals (Class “E” felony) on February 28, 2022. The defendant pleaded guilty to the only charge in the indictment against him two days before testimony was scheduled to begin in his non-jury trial.

As part of his sentence, Judge DiTullio ordered that the defendant undergo anger management counseling and issued a lifetime ban that prohibits him from owning any animals in the future.

DA Flynn commends the Depew Police Department, SPCA Investigator Bill Heine and the SPCA Serving Erie County for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Megan E. Mahoney and Christine M. Garvey of the Felony Trials Bureau.