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Case #5408 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
Kitten shot with crossbow
Palm Harbor, FL (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 17, 2005
County: Pinellas
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Stephen H. Cockerill
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
On Aug 17, a stray kitten was found impaled with an arrow. Just days later, detectives received a half-dozen tips, all zeroing in on one man: Stephen H. Cockerill, 19, of Palm Harbor.
As a group of friends watched, police believe, Cockerill grabbed a crossbow from his truck and told them he was going to shoot a cat.
He fired once, skewering a 11/2-pound kitten through its midsection. The kitten ran away before the group could catch it.
Cockerill grabbed a second arrow, police said. He fired again at another stray cat, but missed.
"Knock it off!" one of the friends yelled, according to police.
At least two of the witnesses came forward on Aug 19 and gave detectives their account, said Tarpon Springs police Sgt. Jeff Young.
They told investigators that on Aug 17 afternoon they were walking on Wesley Avenue, where Cockerill and friends work on trucks, when they noticed a group of strays. Cockerill then retrieved his crossbow.
On the afternoon of Aug 19, Detective Scott Brockew went looking for Cockerill and saw him in a car along the way to Wesley Avenue. Brockew pulled the vehicle over.
When Brockew told Cockerill he was being arrested on a charge of animal cruelty, Cockerill handed the detective a cell phone, saying, "Talk to my attorney," police said.
Cockerill, who has no criminal record in Florida, was being held in the Pinellas County Jail on Friday evening in lieu of $5,000 bail.
A woman found the kitten about 5:30 a.m. on Aug 18, shortly after arriving at her shop. She plans to adopt him once he recovers.
The 9-week-old kitten, since nicknamed Archer, continues to improve. He went through surgery on Aug 18 to remove the arrow, which had fractured a rib, punctured a lung and sliced through the liver, said Rick Chaboudy, director of the Humane Society of Pinellas.
Archer already has made great progress and was walking around, purring and enjoying all the attention showered on him at Tampa Bay Veterinary Specialists in Largo, Chaboudy said.
Case UpdatesA Palm Harbor man charged with shooting a 9-week-old kitten with a crossbow has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and 18 months' probation.
Stephen H. Cockerill, 20, also must write a letter of thanks to the Humane Society of Pinellas for operating on the cat and saving its life.
Cockerill was charged with animal cruelty a year ago after the 1� pound kitten was found impaled with an arrow in an industrial area of Tarpon Springs.
The arrow fractured a rib, punctured a lung and sliced through the kitten's liver. The cat was soon named Archer, and his story prompted hundreds of people to call Humane Society.
Within days, Tarpon Springs police had received a half-dozen tips, all pointing to Cockerill.
Friends of Cockerill told police that on Aug. 17, 2005, they were walking on Wesley Avenue, where they and Cockerill worked on trucks. They noticed a group of strays.
Friends said they watched Cockerill grab a crossbow from his truck and tell them he was going to shoot a cat.
He fired once, skewering the kitten through its midsection, police said. The kitten ran away before the group could catch it.
Then Cockerill grabbed a second arrow, fired at another cat but missed, police said.
When a detective found Cockerill a few days later and told him he was being arrested, Cockerill handed the investigator a cell phone and said, "Talk to my attorney," police said.
Cockerill's defense attorney offers a much different account of what happened.
"It was sheerly accidental," said attorney Elizabeth Hittos of Holiday.
She said Cockerill was with friends, using his crossbow to do target-shooting at some foam cups. Some stray cats wandered in the area and an errant shot hit the kitten, she said.
Cockerill felt awful and "tried to find the cat as it scurried off" but could not, she said.
"He's a good kid, and this was a complete aberration," she said.
The prosecutor on the case doesn't buy that.
"My position was that you don't accidentally shoot a kitten," assistant state attorney Aaron Slavin said.
Hittos also maintained that Cockerill was ready to cooperate with police, but a different attorney he had consulted told him not to make any statements to investigators. That's why, she said, he asked the arresting officer to talk to his lawyer.
Cockerill pleaded guilty to the single charge of animal cruelty on July 28.
"While I'm confident and a bunch of other people are confident that this was an accidental event, it's always a roll of the dice" to go to trial, Hittos said.
Considering that Cockerill could have gone to prison if convicted at trial, "I think that's a risk he didn't want to take," she said.
At sentencing, Circuit Judge Doug Baird ordered Cockerill not to own or possess any animals or weapons while on probation. He also must undergo a psychological evaluation, complete any followup treatment that is prescribed and perform 100 hours of community service.
Baird also withheld a formal judgment of guilt. That means that Cockerill, who has never been charged with any other crime, would not be a convicted felon if he successfully completes his probation.
"The sentence, I think, is a fair balance of being strict and taking everything into account," Slavin said.
Meanwhile, Archer has been adopted by Kathy Powers, 45, who found the wounded kitten near her business, Tropic Signs and Tropic Shirts.
In the year since then, Archer has grown into a normal house cat, Powers said Wednesday.
"He's great," she said. "He's about 12 or 14 pounds. He's huge."
And while Archer is friendly with his family, "he doesn't like any kind of strangers," Powers said. "He runs and hides."
Considering his history, she said, she doesn't blame him a bit. | Source: St. Petersburg Times - Aug 24, 2006
Update posted on Aug 24, 2006 - 12:37PM |
Archer, shot with an arrow two weeks ago, left the Humane Society of Pinellas on Friday with his rescuer and adoptive owner, Kathy Powers. "I'm excited that he's coming home and relieved that his ordeal is over," said Powers, 44, who was accompanied by her mother, Myra Howe.
As Howe carried the kitten in a blanket to the car, she beamed, "It's just like bringing home a new baby."
Archer, 11 weeks old, was too sleepy from the effects of anesthesia to comment. He had been neutered that morning. | Source: St. Petersburg Times - Sept 5, 2005
Update posted on Sep 5, 2005 - 10:37PM |
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