KASEY JONES
Associated Press

BALTIMORE (AP) — The lawyer for a Baltimore police officer charged with beating and choking his girlfriend’s puppy and texting her a photo of the dog’s body says his client will plead guilty in the case.

Twenty-eight-year-old Alec Eugene Taylor of Silver Spring will plead guilty to animal cruelty, a felony, in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Aug. 27, Warren Brown, his lawyer said Tuesday.

County police say Taylor’s girlfriend reported that he had killed Rocko, a 7-month-old Jack Russell terrier, on Feb. 26.

Brown says Taylor is remorseful. He says the 5-year-old veteran of the department was under a lot of pressure and took his frustrations out on the dog.

Brown says he will ask for probation before judgment for Taylor. It would allow his record to be expunged.

Taylor was suspended without pay.

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