Darick Stallworth Pleads Guilty to Animal Abuse Charges in Wells Ave Horror House

By Paul Friswold Mon., Aug. 27 2012 at 12:01 PM

Categories: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Violent Crime

Darick Dashon Stallworth, 31, this morning pleaded guilty to three felony charges of animal abuse and two misdemeanor charges of animal neglect for the brutal torture and slaughter of five dogs in May. The remains of the dogs were found in a house in the 5300 block of Wells Avenue, after neighborhood residents spotted one of the dogs hanging out of a second-floor window.

Stallworth had strangled two of the dogs with electrical cords. He killed the dog in the window by breaking its neck. Another dog had been burned to death. Randy Grimm and Stray Rescue of St. Louis had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the guilty party.

KMOX reports that after Stallworth entered his plea this morning, his grandmother collapsed. Randy Grimm was one of the first people to get to her side and offer her aid.

Stallworth will be sentenced on October 4. Grimm issued a statement this morning thanking the Circuit Attorney's office for their hard work in bringing this case to court. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce and her staff have worked with Stray Rescue extensively to train them in collecting evidence in animal abuse cases with the goal of successfully prosecuting cases. Today's guilty plea is another success story for that partnership.