'The worst I've seen'; Asbury Park man pleads guilty to raping and killing his pet cat

FREEHOLD A 19-year-old Asbury Park man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of animal cruelty, admitting he raped and killed his pet cat in what one longtime animal rights activist called the worst case of animal abuse she has ever seen.

Bani J. Mezquititla appeared before Superior Court Judge Chad N. Cagan and admitted having sex with his pet cat from December 2022 until February 2023 and, sometime between Feb. 21 and Feb. 24, hanging the animal by a phone-charging cord, strangling her to death.

The state will recommend Mezquititla be sentenced to the maximum term for each of the animal cruelty counts - five years in prison, said Keri-Leigh Schaefer, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor. But, under terms of Mezquititla's plea agreement, the state will recommend that the two terms be served concurrently, limiting his prison time to five years.

The agreed-upon sentence does not contain a period disqualifying the defendant from being released on parole before serving the full five years.

Mezquititla's attorney, William Wackowski, told the judge he will ask for a lesser term at sentencing.

Under terms of the plea bargain, Mezquititla agreed to be permanently barred from owning any animals, Schaefer said.

Because Mezquititla is not a United States citizen, he also faces deportation as a result of the criminal conviction, Cagan told the defendant.

Seven animal rights activists sat in the courtroom to watch the plea hearing. Some of them wore purple buttons adorned with a drawing of a cat and the words, "Ellie mattered,'' referring to the abused pet's name.

Among the courtroom spectators was Janine Motta, director of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, who wore a shirt emblazoned with a red heart surrounding the words, "Ellie RIP.''

Tears rolled down Motta's cheek following the hearing.

When asked why she was so emotional, Motta replied,"I'm just thinking of her (Ellie). What was she thinking? Was she screaming?''

Motta said she feels the sentences for the two counts of animal cruelty should be run consecutive to each other.

"He should have gotten 10 years,'' Motta said of the defendant. "To serve the terms concurrently doesn't do her justice.''

Responding to Motta, the prosecutor's office issued the following statement:

"Under New Jersey law, there is a presumption of non-incarceration for defendants convicted of third-degree criminal offenses, in the absence of any criminal history – as was the case in this matter. As such, due to the seriousness of the conduct, the state’s plea offer went far beyond that, and if its provisions are granted by the court, it would rank among the most severe penalties ever levied against an individual charged with animal cruelty in New Jersey. As such, we strongly feel that the plea offer was fully appropriate, and serves the interests of justice.''

Mezquititla kept his back to the courtroom gallery while admitting his crimes.

He did so by simply answering "yes'' to a series of questions posed to him by his attorney.

Wackowski asked Mezquititla if he sodomized or had sex with his cat between December 2022 and February 2023. He also asked his client if he hung the cat by a phone charger, resulting in her strangulation death between Feb. 21 and Feb. 24.

Mezquititla was arrested March 2, after he showed his roommate images of the cat being tortured. He also told his roommate that he threw the feline out of their apartment window. The roommate went outside, retrieved Ellie's corpse and brought it to the Asbury Park Police Department, spurring an investigation.

During the probe, Mezquititla confessed to the abuse, telling police it began with him masturbating in front of the cat in December 2022 and escalated to repeated acts of sexual intercourse with the animal as well as sexually penetrating her with a pencil.

Authorities said Mezquititla repeatedly tortured the cat by strangling her with a pulley device fashioned out of a phone-charger cord, door knob and dresser knob, and he restrained her during the torture by binding her paws behind her back with miniature handcuffs. He also cut off her tongue and part of her jaw while she was still alive and took photographs and video of some of the torture, authorities said.

"This is the worst I've seen,'' Motta said, when asked how this case compared to others she's been made aware of during her 35 years with the Animal Protection League.

"People have to realize the capacity for suffering that animals have and, oftentimes, people don't recognize that Ellie suffered, not just once, but she suffered multiple times, and it didn't end until she was dead,'' Motta said.

Mezquititla, after being deemed mentally fit to stand trial, tried to gain acceptance into a court diversionary program that would have left him without a criminal record if he successfully completed it. He was denied admittance into the program, and Superior Court Judge Christie L. Bevacqua subsequently upheld his rejection.

Cagan scheduled Mezquititla's sentencing for June 13.

The defendant has been held without bail at the Monmouth County Jail since his arrest.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

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This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park man facing five-year term for raping and killing pet cat