By Ben Swann, KFOX News at Nine Reporter

July 14, 2003 --

"I heard the commotion. I was up like at 6:00 in the morning. I thought someone had been murdered the way they were acting," says Las

Cruces resident Ramon Sanchez.

For weeks Sanchez had seen a small black and white chihuahua puppy running through his neighborhood.

The commotion he heard early Sunday morning was an argument between two roommates that ended with 48-year-old Guadalupe Martinez being charged with extreme cruelty to animals.

Police say Martinez killed that black and white chihuahua puppy with her bare hands.

According to the police, the argument started when Martinez threatened to move out of her residence on Manzanita Street. Police say that at some point during the argument Martinez walked outside. Shortly after her roommate followed and when she did, that's when she allegedly found Martinez choking the dog, holding its body above a trash can.

"She then dumped the body in the trash can and walked away," says Lt. Randy Lara with the Las Cruces Police Department.

Neighbors like Sanchez tell KFOX News that they're not surprised by what happened. He says there were constant parties at the home, and that the puppy was allowed to roam freely.

"The commotion of calling the dog, and yelling for the dog, and the dog running after people, and in the end I figured that's what happened cause I didn't hear the dog anymore," says Sanchez.