Pair Pleads 'No Contest' to Felony in Mare's Killing

• Email
• Print
• Tweet

Two Northern California men pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to felony animal cruelty stemming from the torture death of a Thoroughbred mare in Northern California.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Robert Boyd set Oct. 9 for sentencing of Liobijildo Guzman Herrera, 22, and Noel Guido-Silva, 21, both Sonoma County residents, after each man pleaded no contest to one felony count of malicious and intentional killing of an animal.

(No contest means the individual is not admitting or denying the charges, but won't contest the charges.)

Prosecutor James Patrick Casey said the defendants, who have been in custody since late June, face up to three years in state prison in connection with the April 26 vehicular attack on 24-year-old Gentle Song. He said the prosecutor's office accepted the pleas with no guarantee of leniency.

Casey said the two men are Mexican nationals who are in the United States illegally and face deportation once they have served their time.

The defendants admitted using two vehicles -- a truck and a car -- to chase the mare down in her pasture near the city of Santa Rosa. After pursuing her for some time, she was struck twice and suffered a fatal head injury when she crashed into the passenger side window of the car. She bled to death over a period of four to five minutes after hitting her head, according to testimony given at a preliminary hearing July 10.

Casey said he and the family of the 13-year-old girl who owned Gentle Song were satisfied by the pleas.

"After they kind of dwelled on the evidence we presented against them at the preliminary hearing, (the defendants) said they wanted to serve their time and put this behind them," the prosecutor said. "It reflects very well on Sonoma County that in this crazy world today, it was made clear to them that we took this case very seriously. That's one thing that was decided at the outset, that no matter how it turned out, we would prosecute this case as a felony. Almost all animal abuse cases are resolved at the misdemeanor level, but we weren't going to allow that to happen."

In two seasons, Gentle Song, by Norcliffe out of the unraced Tutankahamen mare Tut's Tune, won three races and placed seven times in 27 starts, including third-place finishes in the 1982 Canadian Oaks and the 1981 Ontario Lassie Stakes. She raced for owner Hodgson Farm and trainer Frank Merrill.

As a broodmare, she produced 12 starters from 16 foals, nine of them winners, including the stakes-winning Conquistador Lee (1989) and stakes-placed winners Stephanie's World (1991) and Crown of Kalem (1992). Her last foal was delivered in 1999.

• Email
• Print
• Tweet