A man who was caught on camera shooting and killing an Army reservist's therapy dog at a Davie veterinarian clinic back in 2022 in an apparently random crime has been sentenced to just under a year in jail.
Chayse Billie, 23, pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated animal cruelty, one count of carrying a concealed firearm and one count of tampering with evidence, the Broward State Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
In addition to 364 days in jail, Billie was sentenced to 10 years of probation. He also must complete 250 hours of community service, 26 weeks of anger management, can't own animals while on probation and can't have firearms or weapons.
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He also has to pay restitution to the dog's owner and fines to Broward County Animal Care and Adoption Center and the Humane Society of Broward County.
The shocking incident happened back on April 1, 2022, at the Aycock Veterinarian Clinic on Stirling Road.
Police said the gunman approached the kennel on the south side of the vet's office and shot a boarded female dog multiple times.
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Surveillance cameras captured him walking up to a fence, appearing to kick it, and then taking pictures.
He then pulled out a gun and shot the dog, before he took even more photos.
The dog, a Lab Pointer mix named Matilda, was shot three times and died at the clinic.
Daniel Perez, an Army reservist, had adopted Matilda seven years before she was killed. He said she helped him with his anxiety and depression after he served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"She knew when I was down, depressed," he told NBC6 back in 2022. "She forced me to pet her, and by doing that, I would calm down, relax, and think of something else."
Perez would drop Matilda off at the clinic an hour before it opened so he could get to work on time. When it would open, the employees would bring her in.
"At the beginning, I thought it was personal, a target to me — then I thought it was a target to the dog, the doctor — but the video, in my opinion, seems a stupid prank that you would post on a platform like the black web or TikTok," Perez said.
Records showed Billie was booked into a Broward jail on Tuesday to begin serving the sentence.
