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McKinney man convicted of animal torture in domestic disturbance
By Danny Gallagher, McKinney Courier-Gazette
A McKinney man arrested more than eight months ago in a domestic disturbance received an additional conviction for animal cruelty.
A jury found Ronald Lyn Cash, 43, of McKinney guilty of two felony charges of cruelty to animals by torture and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon last week. Both charges stemmed from a domestic disturbance call answered by McKinney police earlier this year, according to Collin County court and McKinney Police records.
Cash's case occurred on Jan. 16 at his home in the 2300 block of Gabriel Drive. McKinney police Lt. Scott Brewer said dispatchers received a report from a nearby resident at 11:44 p.m. who reported a "frantic female in the immediate area screaming for help."
Cash retrieved a 9 mm handgun from another room in the house, returned to the area and fired a shot. The shot hit and killed the dog who was "just inches away from the female victim," Brewer said.
Then Cash threatened to leave the house and "take his own life," Brewer said.
The unidentified female fled the home screaming for help. A neighbor heard the female's cry for help and called police, Brewer said.
Officers arrived at the scene a short time later, located the weapon and took Cash into custody. Officers booked him into the Collin County Detention Center on a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault, Brewer said.
A Collin County grand jury returned two indictments against Cash more than two months following his arrest including the second-degree aggravated assault felony and an additional state jail felony charge of cruelty to animals. Cash entered not-guilty pleas for both charges for his jury trial held last Thursday in the 366th District Court. The jury found him guilty on both counts and sentenced him to five years of probation with a two year prison sentence for probation violations on the animal cruelty charge, and seven years of probation with a three year prison sentence for probation violations on the assault charge, according to court records.
Attempts were made to reach a representative of the Collin County District Attorney's Office and Cash's attorney Douglas Floyd for comment, but they could not be reached by presstime.
Contact Danny Gallagher at dgallagher@acnpapers.com.
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Unfortunately, a bill that would have increased protection of animals and people in domestic violence situations failed to pass in the most recent legislative session. HB853 would have allowed pets to be included in protective custody orders but did not make it to a vote in 2009. Hopefully, cases like this will encourage legislators to pass similar legislation in 2011. "