Naperville man sentenced to 8 years in prison after he ‘violently killed the family dog'
36-year-old Nathan Gonzalez was sentenced to concurrent terms of five and three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections following his guilty plea to a pair of felony counts—aggravated DUI and aggravated animal cruelty. Aggravated DUI carries a penalty of 1-15 years in prison, depending on its classification, while aggravated animal cruelty carries a 1-3 year prison sentence.
As part of his sentence, Gonzalez was also ordered that he shall not own, harbor or have custody or control of any animal for the remainder of his lifetime.
On Oct. 23, 2024, DuPage County Circuit Court granted the State's motion to deny Gonzalez pre-trial release following allegations that he killed the family dog and threatened his daughter and stepdaughter. He remained in police custody until his sentencing Thursday.
Previous Coverage: Naperville man jailed after allegedly killing family dog, threatening kids
On Sept. 29, 2024, at around 6 a.m., Naperville police dispatch received a 911 call from a 14-year-old female juvenile stating that her stepfather, later identified as Gonzalez, had killed their family dog and threatened the girl and her 11-year-old stepsister.
When officers arrived, they found the two girls at home, but Gonzalez and the family dog, Rocco, were missing. Through the course of their investigation, authorities learned that Gonzalez and his partner were out for the evening, but had a dispute and took separate rides home, with Gonzalez arriving home first.
After the pair split, police said Gonzalez called his partner and told her he was going to kill Rocco. When she arrived home, she found Gonzalez at home, but Rocco was missing.
At this point, Gonzalez left the home. Several hours later, officers received a phone call telling them Gonzalez had returned home. When officers arrived, they learned that Gonzalez had fled the area on foot and he was found a few blocks away hiding behind a dumpster.
The following day, Naperville Animal Control officers found Rocco at a construction site. A necropsy found blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of Rocco's death.
'Following an argument with his partner, Nathan Gonzalez violently killed the family dog, Rocco,' DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. '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.'
On Dec. 17, 2023, officers with the Naperville Police Department pulled Gonzalez over for speeding. When speaking with Gonzalez, officers smelled alcohol coming from Gonzalez, who officers said had glassy and bloodshot eyes. During the stop, officers learned that Gonzalez was driving on a suspended license out of Indiana.
He was arrested at the scene, and it was later determined that his BAC was .131. He was charged and released.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
15 hours ago
- New York Post
Baby-faced Brooklyn gangbangers terrorized neighborhood with gun violence — and boasted about carnage: prosecutors
A band of baby-faced gangbangers who dubbed themselves 'Road 2 Riches' allegedly shot an innocent 68-year-old woman, opened fire inside a bodega and brazenly boasted about murdering a rival gangster as they terrorized their Brooklyn neighborhood with gun violence, prosecutors said Thursday. The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and NYPD cracked down on nine members of the 'Road 2 Riches' crew — who are all 20 years or younger — as they threw down a disturbing 68-count indictment on the pack of brutes on Wednesday. The gangsters were allegedly behind ten different shootings over the past couple of years — at one point striking an innocent 68-year-old woman in hopes of taking out warring gang members in East New York and Brownsville, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said during a press conference Thursday. Advertisement Nine alleged gang members all under the age of 21. Brooklyn District Attorney Office 'And this kind of indiscriminate gun violence is what makes people in Brooklyn afraid, and this is why this indictment is so important,' the top Brooklyn prosecutor said, adding, 'No one should have to live with the fear of bullets whizzing by them.' In one brazen shooting, King Downing, 18, allegedly opened fire inside a bodega when he and other R2R members saw two unarmed brothers they believed were part of another gang walk inside in August 2023. Advertisement Victim Abdoulaye Ba, 24, was shot in the head and later pronounced dead, prosecutors said. R2R was quick to celebrate the fatal shooting on social media. 'Your homie died, them shot on us,' an Instagram post said, while other posts bragged about 'smoking' the victim, Gonzalez said. 'Now, typically, when someone commits a homicide or a murder, they don't want to be identified as the person who did it,' Gonzalez said. Advertisement 'But in this gang violence arena, people need to take credit for the shooting of rival gang members, and this is what you see here.' In another shooting, DeAnthony Ortiz, 18, allegedly took aim and fired at two men in territory controlled by another gang in Brownsville in broad daylight. The gunfire struck a 68-year-old woman who was simply trying to get home from grocery shopping in October 2023. Brooklyn's top prosecutor decried the gun violence. X/NYCMayor Advertisement She survived the attack and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Other shootings involved injuring a 14-year-old boy, a perceived R2R enemy, in March 2023 and hitting two moving vehicles when gangsters allegedly shot at a possible rival on a scooter in April 2025, prosecutors said. One car was an Uber that had a father and his two daughters inside. The trio and driver were unharmed when the bullet hit the front passenger's seat. Gangsters also shot at a group of people on another opponent's turf, wounding a 23-year-old man in November 2024, according to prosecutors. R2R has been at war with 'Pistol Packin Pitkin' (PPP) and the 'WOOO' and 'CHOO' Folk Nation gangs, according to the district attorney's office. 'They've been fighting with everyone,' Gonzalez said of R2R. The nine suspects are facing a wide array of charges, including second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment, prosecutors said. Mayor Eric Adams tore into the alleged gangsters and pleaded with city and state lawmakers to pass tougher laws that could help authorities clamp down on violent offenders. Advertisement 'These nine gang members are really not only an indictment on their action, but it's an indictment on our city,' Adams said. 'Younger and younger people are becoming victims of crimes and participating in crime.' Downing, Ortiz, Mikeem Echevarria, 18, Jevonte Jaime, 17, Qvon Weaver, 19, Quinn Parker, 19, Anthony Wilkinson, 20, Korey George, 19, and Samuel Gaiter, 18, were held on remand or high bail, according to the district attorney's office.
2 days ago
9-year-old Texas girl dies in hot car while mother was at work: Police
A 9-year-old girl has died in after she was intentionally left alone in a hot car while her mom was at work, according to Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The girl's 36-year-old mother left the child unattended in a white Toyota Camry on Tuesday from approximately 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. while she worked at a manufacturing plant in Galena Park, Texas, near Houston, the sheriff's office said during a press conference. The mother left the child with some water, partially rolled down the windows of the vehicle and then "proceeded to go to work for the day," officials said. "There's never an excuse to leave a child unattended," Gonzalez said during the press conference. Upon returning to the vehicle later in the afternoon when her shift ended, the mother found her daughter unresponsive. Law enforcement was contacted at approximately 2:06 p.m. and detained the mother, officials said. Temperatures in the Houston area reached around 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The child was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead, officials said. Detectives continue to speak with the mother to gain more insight on why the child was kept in the car and the exact timeline of how long she was alone in the vehicle, the sheriff said. Officials are also waiting to receive the child's autopsy results before deciding whether to press any charges. Gonzalez said the incident, "which could have been prevented," is a "unique" situation, since most hot car deaths are typically an accident. "Maybe she has to make ends meet and keep food on the table and work. But the risk of death or harm -- there's just no reconciling that in my mind. You got to make other arrangements. It's not worth it to put a child at risk like this, for any particular reason," Gonzalez said. He went on to say that nothing at this point shows that the mother "thought this would be the outcome." This tragedy marks the third hot car death to occur in Texas in the last four days and at least the 13th child to die in a hot car nationwide this year, according to Kids and Car Safety, an organization focused on "saving the lives of children and pets in and around vehicles."
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Newsweek
Dogs Start Acting Strangely Outside—Then Owner Realizes What They Can See
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A video of a pet parent investigating the perimeter of her home after her dogs continuously barked, and a horrible smell wafted in the air, left Laurie Johnson speechless after she discovered the cause. Johnson told Newsweek that her two dogs—Jack the German shepherd and Mopsie, her Shih Tzu—started barking and fighting to get into a corner of the exterior of her South Carolina home. This unusual behavior concerned her, especially because once Jack gets his eye on something, he won't stop. "If it wasn't for them, I don't know if I would've paid too much attention," Johnson said. But as soon as she made her way to her dogs, a strong odor took over. She looked in the corner and could tell the electrical line did not look the same. At first glance, in her June 22 TikTok video posted to the account @xmas444, one might think a pipe was dented, coming out from the electrical box. However, she explained it was a dead snake, and she rushed the dogs back inside. Stuck in the box, the snake's body hung down and wrapped around the home. Its silvery body blended in perfectly with the rest of the electrical piping. Johnson said she has no idea how long the snake has been there or when this unfortunate event happened to the reptile. There was no "tell-tale sign of power loss." She theorizes that the snake slithered its way up, trying to catch a bug. And because snakes cannot move in reverse, the reptile got stuck in the electrical box. Screenshot from a June 22 TikTok video of a woman discovering a dead snake hanging from the exterior electrical box. Screenshot from a June 22 TikTok video of a woman discovering a dead snake hanging from the exterior electrical box. @xmas444/TikTok "I was dumbfounded to be honest," she said. "How did you get there first, and how am I supposed to fix it?" When in doubt, call dad. A follow-up video shows Johnson's father coming over. She let him search the area, testing whether or not he could spot the snake, but it took him a minute to realize what he was looking at. Her dad used a rake, slowly attempting to pull the body out, but Johnson said the body snapped and disintegrated. With what her dad managed to rake up, he moved it over to the side. "The head, I believe, is still in there and will have to stay there until nature does its thing," she said, or she might call an electrician to do the rest. Viewer Reactions Johnson believes the only reason the video gained over 3.6 million views on TikTok was due to people watching the clip repeatedly, trying to make out the snake. No one could believe it was a snake. "Looked like a perfect weld to me lol," joked one user. Another added: "I'm STILL convinced that's a dented electrical conduit, even after watching it narrow to a tail." A third person commented: "It took me way to long to realize this is not a conduit pipe." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
