Dragged To Death: Suspect On Meth Accused Of Sick Scheme To Kill Pregnant Dog | Crime Alert 10AM 12.05.25

A California man now faces more than a decade in prison after prosecutors accuse him of planning and carrying out the violent killing of a pregnant dog in an alley in Anaheim. A nonverbal boy remains missing in New York City as his mother remains jailed for refusing to tell a judge where he is. Drew Nelson reports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alert hourly update, breaking crime news Now. I'm Drew Nelson,
a California man now faces more than a decade in
prison after prosecutors accused him of planning and carrying out
the violent killing of a pregnant dog in an alley
in Anaheim.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Is absolutely an act of pure evil. Somebody who could
commit this act of violence as absolutely depraved.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
That's Kimberly Eds with the Orange County District Attorney's Office,
speaking to our TV news partners at Fox eleven, Los Angeles.
The suspect is fifty eight year old Eric Lynn Holiday
of Buena Park. He was charged with one felony count
of animal cruelty and one felony count of possession of
a hard drug with two or more prior convictions. He
was also accused of violating probation. Prosecutors say he could

(00:41):
face more than thirteen years in state prison if convicted
on all counts. The killing happened early Monday morning. Surveillance
video captured the attack around seven thirty five am in
an alley behind the six hundred block of South Brookhurst
Street in Anaheim. Prosecutors say Holiday drove a Ford expedition
into the alley. He stepped out with a white rope,
one end to a yellow parking baller fastened the other

(01:03):
end to the SUV's toe hitch.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
He tied the center of the rope to the dog's neck,
looped it around the neck of the animal, and tipped
the crate out so that the dog could exit the crate.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
He then returned to the driver's seat accelerated forward. The
tightening rope snapped the dog's neck. Video then shows him
getting out to look at the dog. He got back
into the suv and drove away. The dog was left
in the alley with a severed spine. The small white
Maltese was six years old.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
She was pregnant with at least two babies, which is
just another layer of horrificness.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
A manager of a nearby business found the dog. Several
hours later. That person called the Anaheim Police Department. Officers
reviewed the surveillance video. They identified Holiday as the suspect,
and he was later arrested. Police say he had several
baggies of methamphetamine in his possession at the time of
the arrest. Prosecutors confirmed Holiday was already on formal probation
at the time of the killing. He pleaded guilty in

(01:59):
October to one felony account of assault was forced likely
to produce great bodily injury and one felon account of
vandalism causing more than four hundred dollars in damage. That
earlier case involved an attack on a coworker with a
metal pipe. He had been placed on two years of
formal probation on October fifteenth. If convicted, Holiday faces up
to eight years and four months for the new felonies

(02:19):
and four years and eight months for violating probation. More
crime and justice news after this, A nonverbal boy remains
missing in New York City as his mother remains jailed
for refusing to tell a judge where he is. Jacob
Pritchett is eleven. He's been missing for months in Brooklyn.

(02:42):
His mother, fifty year old Jacqueline Pritchett, remains held at
Riker's Island on a civil contempt warrant. A Brooklyn family
court judge has warned she will stay locked up until
she reveals where her son is. On Thursday, the judge
asked her again to disclose Jacob's location, the judge saying, quote,
if you tell the court the whereabouts of Jacob, I
will release you from incarceration. Pritchett remained silent. Her attorney

(03:04):
told the court she was invoking her fifth Amendment right.
The judge sent her back to Rikers. Investigators say Jacob
is autistic and nonverbal. Neighbors told police they had not
seen him for weeks, perhaps months. The search began in
late September after a worried neighbor of contacted authorities. Administration
for Children's Services workers went to the family's home on
Howard Avenue in Brownsville on September twenty fifth. Pritchett refused

(03:27):
to let them in. Police returned October first. They found
no children inside. Pritchett told officers she never had a child.
They later found Jacob's birth certificate inside the apartment, listing
her as the mother. A caseworker testified that the apartment
had no electricity. He saw two mattresses, saw toys in
the bathroom and closet, the smell of cleaning products, he said,

(03:47):
quote was very strong. When asked again about the child,
Pritchett and insisted she had never had a child and
said quote that she is Jesus Christ. She was taken
to Brookdale University Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Stigators brought
in a police dog, which alerted near the refrigerator inside
the apartment. Detectives searched dumpsters behind the building. Neighbors pointed

(04:07):
police to a trash bin that gave off what one
resident called a death smell. Police trace the garbage route
to the High Acres landfill in Parenton, New York, more
than three hundred miles away. Officers in white coveralls searched
the landfill for days, but no sign of Jacob was
ever found. Neighbors described troubling conditions in the home before
the disappearance. One resident said Jacob was often left alone

(04:30):
and a stroller in the lobby. Witnesses say they often
heard Pritchett screaming at the boy in the apartment, as
if the boy were a grown man. Detectives reviewed three
months of surveillance video from the building. They interviewed relatives
and neighbors. No one has been able to say where
Jacob went. Police say he was never enrolled in public school.
Brooklyn Defender Services has filed court papers seeking Pritchett's release,

(04:50):
calling her continued detention of constitutional violation. Anyone with information
is urged to contact the New York City Police Department
Crime Stoppers Hotline eight hundred five seis and seven tips.
For the latest crime and justice news, follow Crimeler's hourly
update on your favorite podcast app With this crimelerg I'm
Drew Nelson.