Bail revoked for man in felony animal cruelty case

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WILKES-BARRE — Terik Wiggins showed up in Luzerne County Court on Wednesday, a day after he failed to appear at his sentencing hearing on an animal cruelty offense for abandoning a malnourished pit bull puppy in a Pittston alley in 2021.

Wiggins, 31, of Wilkes-Barre, had his $50,000 unsecured bail revoked by Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky, resulting in being jailed at the county correctional facility.

Sklarosky on Tuesday issued a capias warrant, also known as a bench warrant, for Wiggins when he skipped his sentencing hearing on a felony aggravated cruelty to animals charge.

Sklarosky noted Wiggins pled guilty to the charge March 11 when he received notice of Tuesday’s sentencing date.

Two county probation officers advised Sklarosky on Wednesday that Wiggins, while free on bail and under the direction of pre-trial services, was non-compliant of bail conditions.

Attorney Cheryl Sobeski-Reedy, who stood in for Wiggins’ attorney, Nathan Hartman, said Wiggins was “confused” about his sentencing date.

Sklarosky again mentioned Wiggins received personal notice of Tuesday’s sentencing date at the time Wiggins pled guilty and ultimately revoked his bail. The judge scheduled Wiggins to be sentenced on the animal cruelty offense June 13.

Wiggins along with Shaniqwa Shantel Scott, 25, of Plymouth, were charged by Pittston City police and county detectives in February 2023, after a lengthy investigation that was launched when the pit bull, named Nova, was found abandoned and in poor health on Davis Alley on June 8, 2021.

The case generated massive publicity in the region soon after Pittston police released a heart-wrenching picture of the emaciated puppy with the rallying cry, “Justice for Nova.”

Nova was nursed back to health and was adopted by former Pittston City police chief Neil Murphy, now a county detective, and his wife, Lena Angelella, police chief in Pittston Township.

Scott pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.