WAUKESHA — The young woman accused of killing the dog of a family she was baby-sitting for last month was ordered to proceed toward trial on Wednesday.
Kielee Sonnemann, 18, of the Town of Wayne, was charged last week in Waukesha County Circuit Court with a count of mistreating an animal causing death using a dangerous weapon, and faces up to 7.5 years in prison if convicted. On Wednesday, she waived a preliminary hearing and was bound over for trial.
Sonnemann allegedly killed the 8-year-old Chihuahua, named Batman, belonging to the family who hired her to watch a 4-yearold girl on Jan. 25; the dog was found the next day by an 11-yearold family member in that girl’s room hidden under a pile of blankets, pillows and stuffed toys, with a stab wound to its right side and with a white plastic bag over his head and some of his fur pulled from his skin, the complaint in the case said.
In the same room, a deputy found a pair of scissors, that appeared to have blood and hair or fur on them, hidden in a dresser drawer.
Sonnemann reportedly spent more than an hour helping the family look for Batman after the parents arrived home that night.
Investigators also conducted a DNA swab test to see if DNA would link Sonnemann to the crime, and have sought a warrant to search her cellphone for possible evidence. In affidavits accompanying search warrants, the father of the family reported there was “blood everywhere” near where the pet was found.
Sonnemann told a Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department detective she wanted the dog to leave her alone because he was biting her, the complaint said.
An affidavit with the search warrant said when asked if she was upset about something at the house or maybe before she got there, Sonnemann told a detective, “‘there’s a lot going on because that was the third anniversary of her mom taking her own life and her brother tried overdosing,’ and there was ‘a lot of drama going on.’ When asked if the dog biting her put ‘fuel on the fire,’ she responded with, ‘It probably did,’ and added that when she gets mad she lashes out; however Kielee stated that she does not remember doing anything to [Bat Man]. She also stated that when she gets mad and lashes out everything goes blank and she does not remember.”
The affidavit added Sonnemann cut about 2 inches of hair from the 4-year-old’s head, saying the girl got nail polish in her hair after they painted the girl’s nails. Sonnemann had baby-sat for the family before but never cut the girl’s hair, the affidavit added.
In waiving her preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Sonnemann told Court Commissioner Kevin Costello that she’d been receiving mental health treatment for a year or so and had been taking medications, including Wednesday morning before the hearing. But she added she did not believe that medication interfered with her ability to understand what was going on around her.
Defense attorney public defender Ricardo Tapia also has filed a motion to reduce her cash bail from $15,000 to $2,000; that matter is to be heard Friday afternoon.
