It looks as if a Smith Township man will finally be tried on four felony counts of animal cruelty more than four years after being indicted by a Mahoning County Grand Jury.

Forty-five-year-old Gary L. Smith Jr. was transferred from the Summit County Jail to the Mahoning County Jail Thursday.

Local authorities have been looking for Smith since May 21, 2021, after he didn’t attend a hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin.

Smith was booked into the Summit County Jail in late November after being indicted on cocaine and trespassing charges.

Authorities in Mahoning County say Smith shot, strangled, and buried two dogs in his backyard in 2020.

Humane agents said what started as a case of domestic violence ended with Smith using the animals as pawns.

Animal Charity of Ohio operations director Jane MacMurchy and other advocates worked with prosecutors on the case which MacMurchy says causes nightmares.