In the early morning hours of May 16, a man entered the Clarkston FFA’s barn in Washington, shooting and killing three of an FFA members’ pigs. This week, Lyden Blackburn was sentenced for those cruel acts.
Blackburn was sentenced on Monday to three years in prison and was ordered to pay $16,380.18 in restitution and a $500 fine.
According to various news sources, video footage had captured images of a man entering the FFA’s livestock barn with a firearm. The video footage later shows two dead piglets slung over his shoulder. A third pig was shot and was left dead at the scene.
According to the Asotin County Sheriff’s Office, witnesses came forward in July to identify the male subject in the surveillance video as Blackburn, tying him to the responsibility for killing the pigs in the school’s FFA barn.
The evidence was enough to charge Blackburn with burglary in the first degree, three counts of malicious killing of livestock belonging to another, two counts of theft of livestock in the second degree, and two counts of animal cruelty in the first degree.
After the break-in, Clarkston FFA advisor Cami Browne described how FFA members stepped up to ensure they were all safe after the incident and described the members’ devastation. Now, the program has welcomed two litters of fall piglets in the barn.
