Two plead guilty to abandoning Nova

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

Mar. 11—WILKES-BARRE — Two people charged by Pittston City police with abandoning a pit bull named Nova pled guilty to animal cruelty offenses in Luzerne County Court on Monday.

Terik Wiggins 31, of Wilkes-Barre, pled guilty to a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals while Shaniqwa Shantel Scott, 25, of Plymouth, pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of cruelty to animals.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chester F. Dudick Jr. announced the plea agreements that were accepted by Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr.

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" in June 2021.

Wiggins and Scott were eventually charged after a lengthy investigation by Pittston police and county detectives in February 2023.

Nova was nursed back to health by the efforts of the SPCA of Luzerne County, Shoemaker Animal Hospital and Dr. Sara McGarry, and Maxwell's House and was quickly adopted by retired Pittston city police chief Neil Murphy and his wife, Lena Angelella, police chief in Pittston Township.

Nova was found abandoned and deemed in poor health on Davis Alley on June 8, 2021. At the time, police reported the dog appeared to had been neglected and abused.

The SPCA of Luzerne County took custody of the dog suffering from severe emaciation, severe dermatitis, an ear infection, fleas, hookworm, angular limb deformity and overgrown nails.

Surveillance cameras recorded a Ford Explorer that made two stops on Davis Alley with the passenger getting out with an item that appeared to be a portable kennel that was found when Nova was discovered, court records say.

Investigators used search warrants that tracked the cellular phones of Wiggins and Scott on Davis Alley about the same time Nova was abandoned, according to court records.

Wiggins and Scott could be eligible for the county's Intermediate Punishment Program, a probationary sentence, when they are sentenced at a later date. They remain free on bail.