Woman pleads guilty in second animal neglect case
Mar. 11—A Washington Township woman was convicted by a jury last year of charges stemming from deplorable conditions at a home where she was raising children among dozens of animals.
Tesha Semaj Berry, 39, whose current residence is Pittsburgh, was back in court Friday to plead guilty to three offenses in a second set of charges state police had filed against her in October 2022, consolidated from 92 total offenses.
She and her court-appointed defense attorney, Justin Quinn of Beaver County, appeared in the courtroom of Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge J. Craig Cox to enter the plea to two misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals and one count of endangering the welfare of children.
The judge set her sentencing for those offenses for 9:30 a.m. April 12 in his courtroom.
Following a trial in July, the jury had found Berry guilty of three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment and one felony count of child endangerment because the child was 6 years old or younger, four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty for the reportedly illegal cropping of her dogs' ears and two misdemeanor counts of neglect of an animal.
The presiding judge at the trial, John W. Hodge, additionally found Berry guilty of 34 summary offenses that included improper animal ear cropping and neglect of animals.
The jury acquitted Berry of seven total charges of neglect of animals, neglect regarding gerbils and snakes and neglect for failure to obtain required veterinary care.
Assistant District Attorney Deanna Emerich, prosecutor for both cases, at Berry's sentencing recommended she be ordered to serve 1 to 2 years in state prison with five years supervision, but Hodge on July 12 sentenced her to three years of probation.
For the charges in her plea Friday, Emerich is recommending a total sentence of two years of probation to be served consecutive to her three years. She also recommended Berry undergo mental health counseling, be prohibited from raising, owning or caring for animals, and 30 dogs and two cats seized from her home be adopted out to happy homes for two years.
Another condition of her sentence would be Berry paying $50 to the district attorney's animal relief fund.
The pets were considered evidence for the duration of the court proceedings and are being held and cared for at the ANNA (Association for Needy and Neglected Animals) Shelter, a no-kill facility in Erie, Emerich said.
Berry admitted in court Friday, with tears streaming down her face, that she harbored her pets with no ready access to water and food. She admitted that when authorities visited her home Oct. 6, she had 16 dogs living in deplorable conditions outside of her home. The charges were filed against her by the state police.
"The goal here is to extend her period of supervision, but more importantly, to enter a period of prohibiting her from raising, owning or having custody of animals," Emerich said.
Her previous sentence included she is prohibited from having animals for seven years. The additional two years, if imposed, would extend that to nine years.
