John Jefferson
Veronica Carrillo, the cat she’s accused of trying to burn alive, and the cage and grill allegedly used (Moore City Police Dept.)
A 34-year-old mother in Oklahoma has been arrested after she allegedly tried to kill her daughter’s cat by placing the caged animal on a flaming grill outside of her home.
Veronica Carrillo was taken into custody late last month and charged with one count of felony cruelty to animals over the alleged incident, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The incident took place at Carrillo’s residence in Moore, Oklahoma, which is about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City.
According to a report from Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWDT, Carrillo’s 16-year-old daughter on the afternoon of June 27 called the Moore City Police Department and told the emergency dispatcher that her mother had just tried to burn her pet cat alive. The daughter said she was able to save her pet, but still felt she needed to call 911.
“(The daughter) was very distraught. She spoke about how she believed her mother may have put her cat on the grill,” Clint Byley, a digital media specialist with the Moore Police Department, told the station.
Officers responded to the home and located the cat, which was alive, but injured and clearly in distress from nearly being burned alive. Byley said the animal’s whiskers were “singed almost in half from the heat or flames.”
Police spoke to the daughter, who reportedly said that she was looking for her cat when she suddenly heard the animal crying and “meowing very loudly from outside of the home.” When she looked outside, she said she saw her mother was in front of the grill, which was on. Her mother then ran away.
Footage from police-worn body cameras and obtained by Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH showed the responding officers as they entered the backyard of the home. One of the officers picks up what appears to be a carrier cage for a small animal that was inside of a black garbage bag. Parts of the garbage bag appear to be melted onto parts of the carrier.
The footage also shows the moment officers locate Carrillo, who appeared to be wrapped in an outdoor rug attempting to hide on her neighbor’s front porch. When an officer asks her to come speak with them, Carrillo bounces up from her hiding place and walks unsteadily towards the officers and appears to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“I was cooking out and the cat got burned,” she says, unprompted. “You know what I mean? It had to be done. You know, I’m sorry.”
“What had to be done?” the officer asks.
“I mean, I had to cook,” Carrillo responds.
A neighbor told KWDT it was common knowledge that Carrillo had a substance abuse problem and is often seen wandering around the neighborhood in the middle of the night.
“You can tell when she’s all messed up,” one neighbor said.
Another told the station that Carrillo once came to her house at 4 a.m. and slept in her mother’s car.
Carrillo has remained locked up at the Maricopa County Jail since her arrest. She is being held on $100,000 bond, jail records show.
According to the online court docket, a county judge last month ordered Carrillo to have no contact with her daughter.
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