LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) – A woman in Lakeland, Florida, has been arrested and charged with felony animal cruelty after allegedly poisoning and killing her neighbor’s pets.
Tamesha Knighten, a 51-year-old licensed practical nurse working for United Health Care at Wellmed in Lakeland, is being accused of killing her neighbors’ two cats and a pregnant Chihuahua, along with the puppies in the dog’s womb.
The investigation began in August when the couple’s two cats died within hours of each other. The cats exhibited symptoms that included choking, difficulty breathing, foaming from the mouth, and significant pain.
Investigators identified Knighten as a suspect and found that she had repeated threats to poison their pets if they came into her yard. The victims also allegedly noticed Knighten pacing in her yard along their shared fence line on the day their pets died.
Video evidence showed Knighten holding a white foam bowl containing a substance, and further analysis confirmed that the pets had ingested phorate, a pesticide found in insecticides. Doctors said phorate would have caused the animals to suffer.
In response to the arrest, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, “It takes a cold-hearted person to poison and kill two cats and a pregnant dog. It’s hard to imagine how a person in the medical field could do such a thing.”
Knighten has been booked into the Polk County Jail, facing three counts of felony animal cruelty and one count of depositing poison in a public area.