LaPORTE | Two men have been charged with the fatal shooting of a LaPorte area Belgian draft horse.

At a news conference Friday, Brian and Sue Satoski were obviously still grieving over the loss of Ben, who was described as not just any animal.

"There's nobody Ben didn't make an impression on," Brian Satoski said as he choked back tears.

Joseph Waldo, 24, and John Skomac, 25, both of rural Westville, were charged in LaPorte Circuit Court with Class D felony criminal mischief and have posted bond.

Skomac, though, is now sought on a warrant because his arrest violated terms of parole from a previous criminal conviction.

"He's being sought. Hopefully, the community will step up again and let us know where he is," said lead investigator Detective Pat Cicero, of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department.

According to court documents, a colleague of Waldo overheard him bragging about killing the horse and notified police, who during interviews of both suspects obtained confessions.

The horse's body, buried near a pond on the Satoski farm, was exhumed.

Recovered was a slug and the remnants of a shotgun shell, linking the slaying to the suspected weapon, police said.

On the night of Nov. 15, court documents show the men were out looking to shoot deer.

Skomac fired a 16-gauge shotgun capable of firing 12-gauge rounds at a doe and missed, the documents show.

Waldo took the gun and with Skomac now driving spotted Ben illuminated by a light on the Satoski's barn at 3801 S. 650 West, the documents show.

Court documents revealed that Waldo told Skomac he was going to make the horse "kiss the barrel." With the shotgun barrel out the passenger side window, Waldo reportedly fired, hitting the 2,200 pound horse between the eyes, dropping Ben to the ground.

The horse got up and ran away. The family found him dead the next morning and later buried him.

Waldo told police he and Skomac "nervously laughed about the incident" while they drove away, court records disclosed.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Cicero said.

Every year, Ben helped pull a wagon on hay rides offered in the LaPorte area.

Brian Satoski said the other horse in the team was there to do his job. Ben, though, was much different.

He sought affection and wanted to make people smile.

"There are people we don't even know who send out Christmas cards with our team of horses on them with their family around them. We know now what he meant to people," he said.