Man accused of killing dog with shovel found mentally incompetent to stand trial

A 54-year-old Whitewater man charged with fatally beating a 3-year-old terrier mix with a shovel, then dumping the dog over a fence to get it out of his yard, has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Efren Rodriguez Martinez is charged with one count of felony animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing weapon-use allegation for allegedly attacking the dog last June 8 on Kimdale Drive in Whitewater.

During a hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini reviewed a report from a court-appointed mental health doctor, then suspended criminal proceedings.

A hearing was scheduled for Jan. 27, when the judge will consider a recommendation by the Riverside County Department of Mental Health about where Martinez should be placed.

He was arrested last July 7 at the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella after several weeks on the lam. On the day of the attack, authorities received a 911 call about 7 p.m., reporting that a dog had been beaten and needed medical aid. Animal Services Officer Kyle Stephens responded and learned the dog was a stray and was being fed and cared for by several people in the neighborhood, some of whom had taken to calling the animal “Rusty.”

The dog was taken to VCA Animal Medical Center in Indio, which contracts to provide medical care for the county Animal Services department. The dog died the evening of June 10, despite receiving around-the-clock intensive care. In a declaration in support of an arrest warrant, Stephens wrote that officers spoke with Martinez the day the dog was attacked, but he insisted he was asleep and knew nothing about it.

The officers asked if they could search his property for the shovel, but Martinez refused to grant them access, according to the declaration. “Mr. Martinez stated multiple times that he would bring `the one’ to the gate,” Stephens wrote. “I felt as if he was referring to the shovel he may have used to hit the stray dog.” The dog had been hit so hard that one of itss eyes popped out of its head, Animal Services officials said.

A neighbor who witnessed the beating told investigators that he immediately asked Martinez why he hit the dog. “Yelling and using profanity, Mr. Martinez told (the witness) he would kill any animal or person that came onto his property,” Stephens wrote.