Naperville man gets prison for killing dog out of spite
A man who killed his family’s dog and threatened his daughter and stepdaughter has been sentenced to prison.
Nathan Gonzalez, 36, formerly of the 300 block of South Whispering Hills Drive in Naperville, was sentenced Thursday to concurrent sentences of five years for aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and three years for aggravated cruelty.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to both charges.
Naperville police stopped Gonzalez on Dec. 17, 2023, on a speeding charge. They say he had a blood alcohol content of .131, and he was charged with DUI.
Then on Sept. 29, 2024, around 5:58 a.m., police received a call from a 14-year-old girl saying Gonzalez had killed her family’s dog and threatened her 11-year-old stepsister.
When police arrived, the girls were home, but Gonzalez and the dog, a Shih Tzu named Rocco, were gone.
Investigators determined Gonzalez and the girls’ mother had been out for the evening but had an argument and took separate rides home, with Gonzalez arriving first. He then pleaded for the woman to come home and texted her that he was going to kill Rocco.
In one text prosecutors presented, Gonzalez is alleged to have written, “I don’t want to kill the poor (expletive) dog that’s home right now because I am angry at you. He doesn’t deserve this (expletive).”
According to the text chain, the woman then replied, “Kill everyone there. I don’t care.”
Gonzalez was found hiding behind a garbage container several blocks away, and the next day, Naperville Animal Control workers found Rocco’s body at a construction site. The dog died of blunt-force trauma to his head.
“Following an argument with his partner, Nathan Gonzalez violently killed the family dog, Rocco,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a press release. “Mr. Gonzalez’s unconscionable actions, that took the life of a beloved, defenseless family pet, are extremely disturbing. Our pets are family members and deserve our love and comfort, not a violent, painful death as Rocco was forced to endure.”
As part of the sentence, DuPage County Judge Joseph Bugos ordered that Gonzalez not own, harbor or have custody of any animal for the rest of his life.