Two Woodruff men could face felony charges on accusations they beheaded a friend's kitten with a serrated kitchen knife and left the body on the side of the road.
Police continue to investigate the killing of Mischief, a black male kitten whose remains were found Wednesday night on the side of Round Street in Woodruff. Brandon Scott Burdette, 20, formerly of 659 Round St. and Jonathan Cruz Phillips, 18, of 200 Phillips Lane were arrested that night and released from jail shortly thereafter under personal recognizance bonds of $2,000 each.
Each is charged with misdemeanor offenses of ill treatment of animals, injury to personal property and public disorderly conduct. However, 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said Friday he will bring felony charges against whoever killed the kitten and prosecute the case in General Sessions court.
Woodruff Police Chief Darrell Dawkins called the kitten's mutilation one of the worst animal cruelty cases he'd seen during his 12 years at the department.
"You can't believe that a person would harm a kitten like that," he said. "... It just didn't make any sense. Sometimes you hear of folks that apparently don't have a conscience."
Burdette could not be reached for comment. In an interview with the Herald-Journal Friday, Phillips said he was innocent and claimed Burdette, who lived with Mischief's owner, killed the kitten because his meowing annoyed him.
According to police reports, officers were dispatched to 659 Round St., where several friends had gathered. They found Burdette and Phillips cursing at each other in the road in an argument over the kitten's death. The young men told police they had taken Mischief up the road, away from the house, to give him away and then accused each other of killing the kitten.
One witness told police she saw Burdette carrying a knife as the men walked up the road. Another man who lived at the house said Burdette confessed to him that he killed Mischief, according to police reports. An officer went to the area where the kitten had been killed and found blood on a cup and on the ground.
Two witnesses helped locate Mischief's remains.
The kitten's owner, 23-year-old Jennifer Ingle, shared the Round Street residence with Burdette and other friends but made Burdette move out after his arrest, she said. Mischief was a stray she had taken in about a month ago, and Burdette and his girlfriend had recently moved in with Ingle.
Ingle said she was in her bedroom Wednesday night when a friend came in and told her one of the men had killed Mischief.
"I wanted to come kill him, to be honest," Ingle said. "Why, who in their right mind ... ? A defenseless kitten! It was a defenseless kitten."
Burdette had complained that Mischief, who stayed outdoors, meowed too much and that he was allergic to him, Ingle said. She said she told him if she had to get rid of the kitten, she had a friend who would take him.
In an interview Friday, Phillips said he and Burdette had taken the kitten up the road from the house to get rid of him. Suddenly, he said, Burdette grabbed Mischief from his hands and pulled out a knife.
Phillips said he started to walk away, then heard a squealing sound and turned around to see Burdette, with blood on his shirt and hands, next to Mischief's body and severed head. He said he told Burdette he "messed up" and that he shouldn't have done it.
"I've got animals myself," Phillips said. "I wouldn't hurt no animals. ... I was trying to talk him into letting me keep the cat so he wouldn't have to hear it no more."
Dawkins said Phillips has cooperated with officers and contacted investigators Thursday to help them locate the knife used in the attack. Police plan to re-interview Burdette, he said.
Gowdy said prosecutors will review the charges early next week.
"We take (animal cruelty cases) extremely seriously, and this will be no exception," he said.
Under state law, mutilating or cruelly killing an animal is a felony, carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Case UpdatesThe 7th Circuit Solicitor�s Office has upgraded the charge in the beheading of a kitten to felony animal cruelty, the most serious animal cruelty charge under South Carolina law.
Before the charge was upgraded, Brandon Scott Burdette, 20, and Jonathan C. Phillips, 18, both of Woodruff, had been charged with the misdemeanor of ill treatment of an animal.
Burdette and Phillips are accused of beheading a kitten whose remains were found last Wednesday night on the side of a city street in Woodruff.
Phillips was released on bond Tuesday. Burdette is being held in the Spartanburg County jail awaiting a bond hearing.
Felony animal cruelty carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. | Source: WYFF - Aug 28, 2007
Update posted on Aug 29, 2007 - 12:41AM |
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