Five Shelbyville teens between 13 and 15 have been charged with torturing Thomasina the cat to death and burying her body in the sandbox on a school playground.
The boys hung Thomasina by the neck, threw bottles, rocks and basketballs at her, they just beat her to death. The attack was witnessed by an elderly woman and she called the police.
Thomasina was from a litter of kittens born underneath the Thomas Intermediate School two years ago. The rest of the litter left but she remained at the school.
The brown and white cat quickly became adopted by the students and the staff as the official mascot and received her name Thomasina.
Principal Nancy Crowell said she had her routine. "Every morning she visited one of the fifth grade classrooms, sat in the teacher's chair and book her bath."
"She would check that classroom out, and then she'd check out a few more. She knew the traffic times in the hallways and avoided them for the most part."
"Then about 10 o'clock she'd come down and sit in the chair in my office and watch my fish. About 1 o'clock she went to the library and took her nap on the sofa there."
"Always felt that this building was hers and she just allowed us to use it too."
On the afternoon of April 19 the five teens met to kill Thomasina and bury her body in the sandbox on the school playground.
A neighbor living near the site called the police. When the police went to investigate, there was a brown and white cat running loose. The officers left because they were told it was a brown and white cat that had been abused. Then another woman went over and dug up the dead cat - Thomasina - which was also brown and white.
The chief of police said he spoke with each of the teens and they are cooperating with the investigation. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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