A man wanted on animal cruelty charges in DeKalb County after police identified him as the suspect in a widely shared video allegedly beating a dog was arrested over the weekend.
Mekhi Jackson, 21, of Atlanta, was booked into the DeKalb jail on one felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals Friday night, according to online records. DeKalb police announced his arrest the following day, and now Jackson may see his bond revoked in a prior case regarding multiple aggravated assault charges.
Investigators identified Jackson as the man seen in a doorbell camera video March 12 chasing and beating a dog. At one point during the vicious beating, the man can be seen picking up the dog by its head and throwing it against the wall.
The video sparked outrage among residents of DeKalb and metro Atlanta even before police announced that the dog’s injuries were fatal.
The felony charges against Jackson come just over a year after he was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting outside of McNair High School, according to court documents. He was arrested in January 2022 and accused of serving as the getaway driver while a 15-year-old student fired multiple shots from the car, according to Channel 2 Action News.
No one was injured in the shooting, but Jackson was charged with three counts of aggravated assault, court records show. That case remains open in DeKalb’s Superior Court, and online records show that prosecutors representing the state filed a motion Monday to revoke Jackson’s bond. A bond hearing is scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.
Jackson was granted bond Monday, according to online jail records.
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