(MOBILE, Ala.) Kendria Dexter stands accused of the unthinkable: tossing her own puppy from a third story balcony and leaving the scene.
"I am not a dog killer," Dexter told LOCAL 15 News. "I did not toss my dog over the railing."
It started with an argument between roommates at the Barrington Apartments in Mobile Tuesday afternoon.
"I confronted her about a pair of headphones the dog had chewed up," Andrea Griffin, Dexter's roommate, said.
Griffin claims Dexter then went into her room, grabbed her own 9-week-old puppy by the throat, walked out onto their balcony, and tossed the puppy over the railing.
Dexter says that account is exaggerated.
"[Griffin] said 'Get rid of the dog', and I said 'Okay, I'll get rid of it,' and tossed her out onto the balcony," Dexter said.
Dexter claims the dog must have somehow slipped between the railings and fallen through.
It's a story that does not check out with neighbors who live on the bottom floor across the way. The neighbors say based on where the puppy landed near their patio door, it had to have been thrown full force off the balcony.
"She had to have launched the puppy for it to get this far," Michael Tremba told LOCAL 15 News.
When LOCAL 15 News asked Dexter why she didn't go downstairs to help her puppy once she realized it had fallen, Dexter said she heard someone say, "Somebody call the cops," and panicked. Her roommate, meanwhile, alleges Dexter simply left the apartment to go do laundry as if nothing happened.
Dexter also tells LOCAL 15 News she wants her dog back and is willing to pay any medical expenses.
Dexter says Tremba and the roommate are most likely exaggerating their stories under pressure from the property manager. Dexter was suspended from her job at Wal-Mart for 60 days for "defamation of character" and evicted from her apartment.
The puppy is recovering at South Alabama Spay and Neuter. She was initially given a 10 percent to 15 percent chance of survival, but has since rebounded and shown miraculous progress. Although the puppy didn't break any bones, it suffered serious internal injuries and bleeding.
"She's our miracle baby," Dr. Jeni Knizley said. "But I wouldn't say she's out of the woods yet."
