Jesus Calderon-Franco, who initially denied killing the animal, pleaded no contest to charges of felony animal abuse for killing the 4-month-old kitten, named "Pucci," on Nov. 30.
At the sentencing this morning, Deputy District Attorney Sean Dabel called the crime "vicious" and asked Judge Clifford Cretan to impose a prison sentence.
Defense attorney Edward Rojas, however, argued that although the incident was "cruel" and "inexcusable," Calderon-Franco had no previous criminal record.
"Sending him to prison is not going to bring back the kitten," Rojas said.
Calderon-Franco killed the kitten allegedly because he was angry with his roommate's 4-year-old daughter for drawing on the bathroom door.
Dabel said Calderon-Franco was under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine when he saw the drawings, and threw the girl's cat off a second-floor balcony as a punishment.
Calderon-Franco then went downstairs and stomped on the kitten, fracturing its body in several places until it died, Dabel said.
The girl and Calderon-Franco's roommate were not home at the time, but the roommate's brother was home and allegedly witnessed the attack.
The roommate's brother called the roommate, who returned home and confronted Calderon-Franco. He denied attacking the animal, Dabel said.
But Calderon-Franco's roommate saw blood on the sidewalk and followed the trail to find his daughter's kitten dead in a nearby trashcan.
"The brother said (Calderon-Franco) was laughing as he did this, and he took no responsibility after," Dabel said. "The family has been traumatized by this attack."
In addition to a year in county jail, Calderon-Franco was sentenced to three years probation and was ordered not to make contact with the family who owned the kitten.
