Tennessee woman returned to Ky. to answer charge of animal torture

A Tennessee woman, who allegedly shot a dog during a 2015 burglary attempt in Whitley County, has been returned to Kentucky to answer her charges.

On Aug. 9, Whitley County Sheriff’s Department Court Security Officer Donnie Witt Jr. transported Dena Brooke Baird, 28, of Duff, Tennessee, to the Whitley County Detention Center where she is currently being held without bond.

Baird had been in custody in Campbell County, Tennessee, related to the theft of a vehicle in an unconnected case, according to a sheriff’s department release.

On Nov. 7, 2014, Baird and Daniel Myers, 34, allegedly broke into the residence of Cathy Evers and shot her caged dog in the face, according to their indictments.

The animal survived the gunshot wound to the head but the bullet is lodged in the dog’s jaw, according to Baird’s arrest warrant.

On the day after the burglary, the pair were arrested in Jellico, Tennessee, in a vehicle where Jellico Police recovered two guns reported stolen during the Whitley County burglary in addition to other items.

On April 20, 2015, a Whitley County Grand Jury indicted both Myers and Baird for second-degree burglary, torture of a dog causing serious physical injury, and for being first-degree persistent felony offenders in connection to the case.

Baird is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 5 in Whitley Circuit Court.

Myers has never been arraigned in connection with the case, and there is an active warrant for his arrest, according to the circuit clerk’s office.

According to her indictment, Baird was convicted of receiving stolen property on Jan. 14, 2011, and received a five-year sentence. She was also convicted of first-degree criminal mischief and receiving stolen property on June 10, 2011, and received two-year sentences on each charge. Both cases occurred in Whitley County.

According to his indictment, Myers received a seven-year sentence for second-degree burglary in Bell County on Jan. 4, 2010. He received a 10-year sentence for theft of a firearm on Sept. 8, 2011, in Whitley County.