NJ teen denied bail after prolonged and sadistic torture killing of cat

🚨 An 18-year-old man is charged with horrifically abusing his pet cat Ellie

🚨 A judge denied him bail, saying the man had a 'depravity of the mind'

🚨 Authorities went into explicit detail about the accusations

ASBURY PARK — An 18-year-old man accused of raping and torturing his pet cat over several months will remain behind bars after a court hearing at which prosecutors laid out the case's most graphic details.

Bani Mezquititla has been in custody at Monmouth County jail since his arrest on two charges of animal cruelty on Mar. 2. And Superior Court Judge Henry Butehorn ruled at a detention hearing on Tuesday that the Asbury Park man is going to stay there pending trial.

Assistant Prosecutor Sevan Biramian went into great detail about the case at the detention hearing, which was recorded by the Asbury Park Press.

Defense attorney Alton Kenney reportedly argued for Mezquititla's release as he had never harmed a human being. He said that the 18-year-old needed mental help instead of a jail cell.

But the judge was unconvinced. Butehorn said that the evidence showed a "depravity of the mind" that posed a danger to the community.

"There is strong evidence to indicate that the defendant engaged in an extended course of unprovoked torture and sexual assaults on an innocent, defenseless cat.'' Butehorn said.

🚨 WARNING: Graphic details of animal abuse

According to Biramian, it was Mezquititla's roommate, a woman identified by her initials L.G., who reported the abuse to police. She said that Mezquititla had shown her videos and photos of him torturing the cat, Ellie.

L.G. told investigators that Mezquititla had admitted he strangled Ellie to death using his phone charger cord and then threw the body out the window, Biramian said.

When officers later interviewed Mezquititla, the assistant prosecutor said he confessed to having sex with the cat and torturing her using a variety of methods including strangling and reviving it, only to strangle it again.

"When detectives asked if the defendant had done anything like this before, he laughed and he said, 'No, I'm not a psycho,'" Biramian said. But authorities claim that Mezquititla later admitted to making a pulley system using a door knob and the cord to strangle Ellie on multiple occasions.

Mezquititla is also accused of confessing to sexually abusing the cat. He stuck a pencil in the cat and had intercourse with the animal starting in late December, according to Biramian. Authorities said an autopsy confirmed Ellie had been sexually abused.

The autopsy further found that Ellie's lower jaw and tongue had been removed, Biramian said. He noted that this was done before her death.

Rick Rickman is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com

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