A Bradenton man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after what prosecutors describe as a terrifying campaign of domestic violence that included grabbing his girlfriend’s 1-month-old kitten and flinging it off a fourth-floor apartment balcony into traffic.
Prosecutors say that episode was only one part of a pattern in which Daniel Rivera repeatedly attacked the woman, pointed a pistol at her, smashed her phone and later pushed her to back off the criminal case. The convictions, which include both animal cruelty and violent-offense counts, led a judge to impose a multi-year state prison term last Thursday.
Convictions and sentence
According to the Bradenton Herald, Rivera, 23, was convicted of criminal mischief, cruelty to animals, felony battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with a witness. The judge ordered him to serve seven years behind bars.
The Herald reports that the sentence followed testimony and records presented by prosecutors, who built the case with the Bradenton Police Department and the Twelfth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office. Together, investigators walked the court through a sequence of violence against the victim that culminated in the animal cruelty charge and the witness-tampering count.
What court records show
Court dockets list Rivera under case number 2025CF001629AX for a cruelty-to-animals charge tied to an incident in early June 2025, according to Manatee County court records. The clerk’s records connect the cruelty charge to a June 3, 2025 filing and show that Rivera was convicted on May 7, 2026.
The docket notes the case disposition as convicted and records the matter as closed following the May conviction, providing the main public paper trail on the animal-cruelty count and its outcome.
Prosecutors' account and no-contact violation
Prosecutors described the core incident in stark terms, telling the court that Rivera "grabbed the woman's 1-month-old kitten and threw it off the balcony of a four-story apartment building into traffic," as reported by Tampa Bay 28.
The outlet quotes Assistant State Attorney Limeecha Dunbar as saying, "Daniel Rivera thought he was above the law." Prosecutors told the court that despite a no-contact order, Rivera later reached out to the victim and urged her to drop the charges. That move, they say, resulted in the tampering-with-a-witness count that helped solidify the overall case against him.
How pet abuse fits into domestic-violence prosecutions
Advocates and researchers have long warned that animal abuse often shows up alongside intimate-partner violence, both as a way to terrorize victims and as an extra signal for authorities that a household is dangerous. Groups such as the National Link Coalition have documented the connection between cruelty to animals and other forms of family violence, a pattern prosecutors say now routinely shapes how they investigate and charge domestic cases.
Rivera’s seven-year sentence was imposed last Thursday, and court records show he remains in custody awaiting transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections. Local officials and prosecutors have credited the joint Bradenton Police and State Attorney’s Office investigation with bringing the case to trial, and media reports have urged anyone with information about similar incidents to contact the Bradenton Police Department.
