WENATCHEE — A Wenatchee woman charged with assault after discharging a firearm when she learned her family dog had been tortured to death entered a greatly reduced plea Wednesday, drawing a sentence of 25 days on electronic home monitoring.
Sarah L. Keffeler, 38, was one of three people arrested in October 2013 after police were called to her home in the 700 block of Orondo Avenue. She had returned home that night to discover her 15-year-old son and a family friend, Jamar W. Stipek, 20, had killed her small dog.
Police said the animal had been hanged, punched, slammed to the ground and stabbed over a period of about 30 to 40 minutes before dying. Keffeler was accused of firing a .22-caliber rifle toward Stipek and her son inside the house upon discovering the killing. No one was injured.
Keffeler faced three charges of first-degree assault, which could have yielded about 35 to 40 years’ prison time if convicted on all counts. An agreement between Chelan County Prosecutor Doug Shae and defense attorney Brandon Redal allowed her to plead to a single count of second-degree malicious mischief.
