Haniyyah Barnes, 28, of Newark, is charged with killing a two-year-old Shih Tzu by throwing the dog into oncoming traffic during an August 2011 parking dispute
NEWARK -- Around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2011, Nazirah Bey said she was sleeping in a bedroom in her Newark apartment with her infant daughter when she was awakened by loud, banging noises near the front door.
When Bey checked out the commotion, she learned that her neighbor, Haniyyah Barnes, had kicked in the front door and was arguing with Bey's father over a parking dispute, according to Bey. Barnes then hit Bey multiple times before Bey pinned her against a wall, Bey said.
But after Bey let her go, Barnes ultimately turned to Honey Bey, a two-year-old Shih Tzu of Bey's that had begun barking, Bey said.
With Bey chasing after her, Barnes grabbed Honey Bey by the neck, ran outside and tossed the dog inside the street, where it was struck by a car and killed, according to Bey. Bey said she rushed to Honey Bey and the dog was "gasping for air," but she ultimately died.
Bey recounted that night on the witness stand Wednesday at Barnes's trial on charges of burglary, theft, animal cruelty and criminal mischief. Barnes, 28, of Newark, had pleaded guilty in April 2014, but Superior Court Judge Richard Sules in February allowed her to withdraw her guilty plea.
The altercation stemmed from a parking arrangement between Bey and Barnes, who lived two doors down from one another on Fabyan Place in Newark, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have said Bey had allowed Barnes's mother to park in her driveway. On the night of the incident, Barnes became angry and kicked in Bey's front door, because Bey's car was blocking the mother's car, which was parked in the driveway, prosecutors said.
A Newark police officer was sitting in a patrol vehicle nearby and witnessed Barnes throw the dog into the street, prosecutors said. Barnes then approached Bey, leading the officer to pull her of Bey and arrest her, prosecutors said.
"This is not a whodunnit. These families know one another. We know who committed these acts. There are no issues of identification," Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Michele Miller told jurors on Wednesday in her opening statement.
Miller argued the evidence will show Barnes intended to commit a crime when she entered the home.
"There was no intent on the defendant's part for that dog to come out of the situation alive," Miller said.
But Barnes's attorney, Michelle Treiber, told jurors the state will not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Barnes planned to rob the residence.
Treiber said prosecutors have "overcharged" Barnes.
"Once the facts have been presented, you will not find Ms. Barnes guilty of everything she is charged with," Treiber said in her opening statement.
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