An Alpine man who is serving a 25-year sentence for killing his girlfriend’s 19-month-old son has received a concurrent prison term for injuring his pet Chihuahua.
No additional prison time was imposed to Brett Brown, 32, by El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson. Brown pleaded guilty to committing animal abuse, and this charge was separate than the one involving the Jan. 11, 2016, death of Lucas Orlando.
The jury, which convicted Brown Sept. 12 of second-degree murder and assault upon a child, did not know of the animal abuse charge which occurred before Lucas was also injured. Dried dog blood was found in his apartment, but the dog did survive.
Brown has been in jail since he was charged in 2016 with the boy’s death and he was given credit for 1,057 days in December. The 25-year sentence was given for the child assault conviction.
Brown’s attorney argued to jurors he was holding Lucas when he stumbled on something and fell on top of Lucas, causing traumatic injuries to the boy. Brown called 911, but didn’t give that story to paramedics and sheriff’s deputies. He said Lucas had fallen from the couch onto the floor.
His ex-girlfriend, Renee Fournier, 30, testified against him after she pleaded guilty to child endangerment. She was ordered to attend a 52-week child rearing class and was placed on four years probation.
