Kids Screamed as Their Mom’s Boyfriend Beat a Puppy to Death. When Cops Arrived, All They Found Was a Bloody Hammer

Content warning: This article contains disturbing descriptions of violence.

After his girlfriend’s children allegedly heard him brutally murder a puppy, a man fled to a nearby river to hide from authorities.

The incident, which Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth described as “sickening,” occurred at a home in Milan Township, Ohio, on May 5, according to CBS affiliate Cleveland 19 News.

Deputies arrived at the home after a 911 call reported hearing a man kill a puppy, triggering an “onslaught of screaming from family members as a result,” the Erie County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) told the outlet. The deputies quickly discovered an “extremely distraught” girl outside of the home, and she told them that her mom’s live-in boyfriend had killed a puppy and fled, police alleged.

The girl and a second child told police that the boyfriend, Jimmy Wiggins Jr., threatened to choke the puppy, whom the outlet identified as Hank, just before he allegedly bludgeoned him to death.

“What one of the children described was Jimmy threatening to strangle Hank, and then he heard Hank screaming like a puppy would scream, and they heard an impact,” Sigsworth told Cleveland 19 News.

The children claimed to have seen Hank dead inside the bathroom, but the puppy’s body was gone by the time they arrived, the ECSO told the outlet. Wiggins, 46, was also gone, allegedly leaving behind just a bloody hammer and a bottle of peroxide, which the kids said he used to wash his hands.

Meanwhile, the children’s mother, 42-year-old Gretchen Howard, was at the home, which the ECSO said was “in complete disarray, smelled strongly of animal feces/urine and was basically uninhabitable due to the deplorable conditions,” per Cleveland 19 News. Howard spoke with officers but was unintelligible, police said.

While searching the surrounding area for Wiggins, deputies found footprints, which they followed to the river behind the home. There, they then heard sticks breaking and a splash, the ECSO said. With the help of additional first responders and a drone, deputies were able to locate Wiggins, who was partially submerged in the water and holding on to a tree branch.

He was subsequently taken into custody, along with Howard — who, just hours earlier, was allegedly found in possession of a crystallized substance during a traffic stop, Cleveland 19 News reported. Wiggins was with her during the stop, and was driving without a license, per the outlet.

During a sweep of the home, deputies also found “an influx of narcotics, most notably methamphetamine and/or paraphernalia/instruments in plain view,” per the ECSO. After Wiggins was found, all of the items were seized as evidence.

The Erie County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, May 10.

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Wiggins and Howard were both booked into jail on May 7, and their bonds were set at $50,000 and $20,000, respectively, according to jail records viewed by PEOPLE. It was not immediately clear if they have retained legal representation to comment on their behalf.

Wiggins was charged with two counts of endangering children, and one count each of tampering with evidence, cruelty to animals and obstructing official business. Howard also faces two charges of endangering children, and one count of obstructing official business.

They are both set to appear in court later this month — Howard on May 12 and Wiggins on May 16.

Howard’s two children are in the permanent custody of Erie County Job and Family Services, the ECSO told Cleveland 19 News. Another puppy, Mud, who was recovered at the scene, was relocated to another home, the outlet reported.