Woman accused in beating death of fawn

EUCLID, Ohio (AP) — A woman is accused of beating a fawn to death with a shovel after finding it in a flower garden at her home near a wooded park.

Seventy-five-year-old Dorothy Richardson has been charged in a warrant with animal cruelty June 15 at her Euclid home near the Cleveland Metroparks Euclid Creek Reservation. Euclid animal control officer Ann Mills requested the warrant.

Richardson has not yet appeared in court. She told WKYC-TV in Cleveland she was afraid of the fawn and used a shovel to try to make it move. She says that, after it died, she put it in a box and took it to the curb on trash day. A telephone message was left for her Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Euclid’s cruelty-to-animals charge is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.