Jury Selected In Animal Cruelty Case Involving 12 Dead Dogs
A Bowie County jury was selected Tuesday in the case of a Simms, Texas, man accused of torturing and killing 12 dogs over a nine-month period in 2024.
NEW BOSTON, Texas — A jury was chosen Tuesday to decide the case of a Simms, Texas, man accused of torturing and killing a dozen dogs over a nine-month period in 2024.
Stuart Duncan Hammonds, 25, faces two to 10 years in prison on each of 12 counts of felony animal cruelty, if convicted. Opening statements and testimony are expected to begin Wednesday morning at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston.
Hammonds came to the attention of authorities after a woman reported that she had received information leading her to believe her dogs and puppies had been killed by Hammonds, according to a probable cause affidavit. When investigators visited the rural Bowie County property where Hammonds was living in mid-October 2024, they could reportedly smell the odor of decay and observed the skeletal remains of numerous canines, the affidavit said.
A witness told investigators that Hammonds would pick up and take home dogs and puppies belonging to other people and would obtain animals through online sources. The witness reported seeing Hammonds kill a neighbor’s dogs and puppies by “choking them and slamming them around until they died,” the affidavit said.
Near a camper where Hammonds was living and scattered about a barn on the property, investigators found the carcasses of seven dogs, the affidavit said. Other remains were discovered beneath a rubber mat and cardboard box near the barn, according to the affidavit.
Investigators listed the remains as belonging to dogs described as an adult female tan and white Pitbull-type dog, three 6-month-old mixed-breed puppies, two black and tan hound-type dogs, a German Shepherd, a black and white Great Dane, an adult female mixed-breed dog, a Pitbull dog of an unknown color and two Beagle-type dogs, according to the affidavit.
According to a notice filed by the state earlier this month, investigators believe Hammonds may be responsible for the deaths of additional dogs and may move to introduce testimony regarding those allegations.
The notice further alleges that Hammonds abused the animals when he was angry. The abuse allegedly included kicking, hitting and choking the dogs, as well as shooting them or striking them with an axe.
Hammonds has been in custody since his arrest in October 2024. He is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $600,000.
Hammonds is represented by Vadol Miller. Bowie County District Attorney-elect Kelley Crisp is representing the state.
District Judge John Tidwell is presiding over the trial.