ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A St. Johns County man accused of shooting his dog to death in his backyard in August faces felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty and animal fighting, according to court records.
Jake Cameron Matthew, 34, of Elkton, was arrested Sept. 17 and also faces charges of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon, knowingly giving false information to law enforcement and nuisance.
According to a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, Matthew used a 9 mm handgun to kill his dog, Daisy, in the backyard of his home on Ninth Street in Elkton on the evening of Aug. 25.
Deputies responded to two calls that night about shots fired in the area but found nothing suspicious at the time, the report stated. The next morning, deputies were called to a vacant lot on 10th Street, directly behind Matthew’s home, after a decapitated dog’s torso was found there.
When investigators arrived at Matthew’s home with a search warrant that same day, they found a dog’s severed head inside a bucket, the report stated. Investigators also found a gun-cleaning kit, gun oil, a holster mounted on the wall next to the front door and a box the report described as commonly used to store pistols, but no firearm was found.
Matthew is not allowed to possess firearms because of a 2014 felony conviction for domestic battery by strangulation, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in state prison, according to the arrest report.
The day after the search, detectives returned to the house, where Matthew told them he had buried the dog’s body in the vacant lot behind his home, according to the arrest report. Deputies found the dog’s torso in a shallow grave and sent it to the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy.
Deputies returned with a second search warrant Sept. 2, which uncovered several recently fired 9 mm shell casings in the backyard near where the dog was buried, as well as a fired bullet in a nearby tree trunk, according to the report.
Detectives also seized two adult male dogs, eight puppies and two caged piglets from the property and found two dead cats, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Monday. According to the arrest report, piglets and cats “are often used to train and bait fighting dogs.”
The necropsy found Daisy had nine bullet wounds from five shots, and a 9 mm bullet was also recovered from her body. The only wounds on the dog were from close-range gunfire, according to the report, which states that Matthew made “numerous statements” to deputies that were “directly refuted by the medical findings.”
Matthew also posted a photo of himself on TikTok holding a pistol, along with photos of dogs, including an injured dog, and posts “regarding his participation in dog fighting,” the report stated.
Matthew remains in the St. Johns County jail on $45,750 bond, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATE (Sept 17, 7:09 p.m.): This story has been updated with information released Monday by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, including the seizure of dogs and puppies from the property and Matthew’s current bond.
