A man who police said beat his girlfriend, attacked her with a knife and then strangled her dog received a 24-month sentence to community corrections Friday.
Denver District Judge William Robbins sentenced 29-year-old Esgar Flores in connection with Flores’ guilty pleas to felony menacing and aggravated cruelty to animals.
Killed in the April 19 assault was “Stuart,” a Chihuahua puppy belonging to Erica O’Neil, 23.
The sentence was part of a plea bargain agreed to by prosecutor Diane Balkin and John Ventura, Flores’ attorney.
According to police, officers went to a convenience store in the 10000 block of East Girard Avenue in the early hours of April 19, where they found O’Neil wearing only a gray T-shirt.
She was bleeding and had cuts on her legs, ankle and arms.
O’Neil said that without provocation, Flores took a knife from the kitchen of her apartment and started cutting and choking her until she couldn’t breathe. He then choked Stuart to death.
Officers checking the apartment found a 12-inch knife and recovered the dead dog, which was found in a stack of tires in the apartment.
O’Neil, who wasn’t present during the brief sentencing hearing, also told officers that Flores, in addition to choking her, hit, kicked and attempted to sexually assault her.
During the hearing, Flores, who is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds, said nothing.
Balkin told the judge that one of the conditions of the plea agreement is that Flores not own a pet.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
