AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: This story contains graphic content.
A man arrested in March on accusations of killing dogs in various Austin hotel rooms received a returned indictment for three counts of cruelty to a non-livestock animal Monday.
The Travis County Grand Jury delivered the third-degree felony to 27-year-old Tyler Hastings Berry of Buda.
The Pflugerville Police Department arrested Berry on March 14 on a warrant issued in October 2021 for a June 2021 crime, according to a press release. On June 28, 2021, the cleaning crew at a downtown Doubletree Suites found a dead dog in Berry's hotel room a day after he checked out. They also found drug paraphernalia and hypodermic needles.
Strangling and partial drowning may have occurred in the hours before the dog's death, an Austin Animal Center veterinarian said.
Berry was also charged for an Aug. 2 incident in which two puppies were found dead from lack of medical care in a northwest Austin hotel.
On June 5, 2021, police allegedly found a wet, dead puppy in a room Berry stayed in at a different hotel. However, hotel staff threw the puppy's body away, so no police were dispatched and Berry received no charges.
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