GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) -- The owner of a malnourished dog that was found dead in an empty Grand Forks apartment has been sentenced to four days in jail and 100 hours of community service.
The Grand Forks Herald reports 24-year-old Johnell Hallman turned himself in at the Grand Forks County jail on Thursday and was sentenced later that day after pleading guilty to a charge of abandoning an animal. An arrest warrant for him had been issued.
The body of Lyric, a 5-year-old female Pekingese, was found inside an apartment on Sept. 8. Veterinarians couldn't determine how Lyric died, but the corpse weighed 6 pounds instead of the expected 15 to 20 pounds for a Pekingese.
Hallman told authorities that he had been living in Minneapolis for more than month and thought a friend was caring for Lyric.
