Man accused of stealing 10-year-old's horse and riding it until it died

BROOKSHIRE, Texas (KTRK) -- Police arrested a man accused of stealing a horse and riding it until it died in Brookshire.

Investigators say Treveon Marqués Hillsman stole the animal from a Brookshire stable, rode it to Fulshear, then back to Brookshire before the horse collapsed and died outside of H&E Equipment Services on FM 359.

"My understanding is [the horse] was just exhausted," said the horse's owner Tony Henny. "He was beating on her and, you know, using profanity to the point that she couldn't take it anymore."

H&E employees heard everything and called police. They even tried saving the horse before it died. Henny told ABC13 he just bought the horse for his 10-year-old granddaughter for Christmas.

"It's just unimaginable," said Henny. "I'm trying to figure out how to break it to my granddaughter."

He says his granddaughter was looking forward to her horse.

"It's literally going to break my granddaughter's heart," said Henny. "We can get another horse, but it's still not the same thing. This is something she was looking forward to, waiting for, and now, I have to tell her her horse is dead."

Investigators say Hillsman faces several charges, including cruelty to livestock and evading police.

"When people are cruel like that, there's something missing in them. That's not human," said Henny.

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