A Brooklyn immigrant was arrested and released on suspicion of throwing a 2-year-old dog to death from a 14th-floor balcony earlier this month, but the dog's owner was left traumatized by the callous killing.
Luis Gabriel Santamaria, 27, said he returned home on Nov. 1 when his new friend broke into his apartment around 5 a.m. after an argument, threw his dog off the balcony and kissed his pit bull. He said he was found dead on the sidewalk. The apartment building is located at 220 Montgomery Street in Crown Heights.
“I've had him since he was a baby, a month old. He was literally my best friend,” the heartbroken pet owner told the Post.
“I never thought he would do something like kill my dog for no reason.”
Alberto Morris, 33, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, grand larceny, possession of stolen property, criminal mischief and animal torture, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.
He has no prior arrest record and was released following his arraignment earlier this week. His charges are non-bailable under state law, meaning he cannot be held unless convicted.
“I have PTSD from this,” Santamaria said.
“I still walk down this street shaking my head because I don't know what this guy is capable of doing. I don't know him well enough to know that that could happen.”
Santamaria met Morris a few weeks before the killing, and the two quickly became friends, bonding over their shared Panamanian heritage.
Santamaria said Morris, who lived nearby, immigrated to the United States about a year ago, and the violent thug quickly became attached, sending strange emails and showing up at her home. He added that he kept ringing the doorbell for hours.
Santamaria said that on the night of the horrific incident, the two were at a Halloween party in Williamsburg, where Morris became intoxicated and aggressive.
“It was scary,” he added, explaining that he warned his friends that Morris was going to fight him.
“At one point, when he got too aggressive, he grabbed my bag and I had a small side bag and he ripped it off my body. We We were pushing each other and I didn't know what was going on, but before I knew it, he pulled the keys out of my bag.”
Santamaria said the security guard told Morris to get lost, which he did.
Shortly thereafter, they realized that Morris had a key to the apartment. He ordered an Uber to his home, frantically calling friends to hurry to his home to prevent Morris from breaking in.
But it was already too late. Morris was the first to arrive on the scene, allegedly throwing the puppy off a balcony and attempting to rip a Ring camera off the wall as he fled the scene.
When a grieving Santamaria finally returned home, she found Kiss dead on the sidewalk and the friend who gave her the dog crying outside the building.
“My family is still in shock over this,” he said.
“I'm very curious why he became a free man after doing something like this. I don't think any murderer should be left outside prison.”
Prosecutors said Morris will remain on supervised release until his next court date.
Aggravated cruelty to animals is a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison in New York State.
