By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — According to the Sumner County Court Docket, a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at 9 a.m. next week involving two “Cruelty to Animals” charges against Steven Vaughn, born in 1978, of Caldwell.
Vaughn is accused of shooting the family dog and killing a pet male donkey in separate incidents. A preliminary hearing is scheduled to determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a jury trial.
Vaughn was originally scheduled for “knowingly, maliciously, and feloniously” killing a family dog on March 24, 2026. According to the complaint, the defendant “shot and killed the family dog without justification.”
Steven Vaughn
He is also accused of an earlier incident of shooting a pet male donkey belonging to his daughter around Christmas Eve. Although the donkey incident allegedly occurred earlier than the dog incident, the Sumner County Attorney’s office filed the donkey charges later.
The complaint alleges that Vaughn, who had sole custody of the donkey, either shot or abandoned the animal without proper support such as food, shelter, or water.
Both charges are considered non-grid felonies. Non-grid felony convictions are normally served in local county jails and are capped at 12 months per conviction.
According to an affidavit obtained by Sumner Newscow, Vaughn was interviewed by Sumner Sheriff Lieutenant Mike Friday and Brett Thomas.
Friday spoke to Steven’s wife, Rebecca Vaughn, about the donkey incident. They had raised two donkeys, a male (a jack) and a female (jenny), which were both pets of their daughter’s. In December, the jenny was about to give birth to a foal that did not survive. The jenny died the next morning, according to the affidavit. Rebecca told the officer that Steven made inappropriate comments about the remaining jack donkey to her and the daughter.
Commentary by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The election is over, and I have something to say about it.
