Christopher Brooks Jameson (OKC Police Dept.) and the Petland where he admitted to killing four animals (KWTV screenshot)
For the first time in her 14-year career on the bench, a judge in Oklahoma rejected a negotiated plea deal as being too lenient, disregarding the agreement between prosecutors and a man who admitted to killing several helpless animals inside of a local pet store last year.
Oklahoma County District Court Judge Cindy Truong on Wednesday refused to accept a plea agreement that would have given 20-year-old Christopher Brooks Jameson a seven-year deferred sentence for killing four animals at an Oklahoma City Petland last summer, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Jameson in August pleaded guilty to one count of felony animal cruelty. As part of his plea agreement, Jameson was required to complete an in-custody regimented inmate discipline (RID) program and inpatient mental health treatment.
“If successful after completion of RID and inpatient treatment, sentencing will be deferred for 7 years,” Jameson’s original plea agreement stated. “But if unsuccessful this will be a blind plea to the court.”
According to a report from Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV, Jameson’s defense attorney on Wednesday told the court that her client had completed all aspects of the deal required for the deferred sentence. However, Truong was apparently not satisfied.
Referring to Jameson’s actions as “appalling,” Truong reportedly said that she could not accept the terms of the deal as a matter of public safety. Instead, the judge ordered Jameson to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, telling the court she wanted to “see what’s going on in his head,” per KWTV.
Jameson’s defense attorney reportedly tried to argue that the court was bound to abide by the terms of the plea deal negotiated with state prosecutors, but was unsuccessful.
Truong ordered Jameson to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and continued the case until April 19.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department at about 5:48 p.m. on July 14 responded to a call regarding possible animal cruelty at a Petland store in the 13000 block of N Pennsylvania Avenue. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders spoke to the store’s assistant manager, who told police that employees had located several dead animals inside their enclosures the previous day.
Specifically, the assistant manager advised that one of the parakeets had been found dead inside of its cage and they were able to determine that “its neck had been broken,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
The store’s bunny enclosure was located next to the parakeet enclosure. There, employees said they found a bunny that was observed to be unresponsive and “quickly determined to be deceased.”
Surveillance footage from the previous day allegedly showed Jameson and an adult female — who authorities say was not involved in the heinous killings — entering the store at about 3:30 p.m. and “looking around,” before going over to the puppy enclosure and having one of the animals brought to them. The puppy they were shown was not harmed.
“After interacting with the puppy, [the manager] stated [that Jameson] went to the area where the bunnies and Parakeets are located. The video [the manager] showed me revealed [Jameson] reaching into the bunny enclosure and appearing to hold the bunny down. [Jameson] looks around and lets go of the bunny,” the affidavit states. “Another video showed [Jameson] reaching into the Parakeet enclosure and moving away.”
“After breaking the neck of the Parakeet and strangling the bunny, [Jameson] grabbed a hamster and a Guinea pig before leaving the store with the female,” police wrote.
When the staff watched the surveillance footage and saw that the hamster and Guinea pig had been taken, they went out to the parking lot where they located the hamster, which had also been killed. Police said it appeared as though the hamster had been “stomped to death.”
The Guinea pig was thought to be missing until officers with the Edmond Police Department found the animal dead outside of a bathroom in a nearby park.
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