New Mexico wildlife officer charged in decapitated cat case
January 14, 2021 GMT
BLOOMFIELD, N.M. (AP) A wildlife officer in New Mexico has been arrested after police say he allegedly decapitated a 9-week-old gray kitten at his home in Bloomfield, authorities said.
Jicarilla Apache Game & Fish employee Joseph Weaver, 40, was arrested on a fourth-degree felony charge of extreme cruelty to animals, The Farmington Daily Times reported.
The Bloomfield Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to a home Sunday for a welfare check when they found Weaver’s family distraught about the kitten.
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Police said Weaver’s wife told officers that he called her into the bedroom where she saw him standing with a pocketknife in his hand and the kitten floating in the bathroom sink with its head detached. Weaver was off duty at the time of the incident.
Marco Florez, 37, allegedly shot a juvenile in the leg at a family gathering in the early morning hours of Nov. 27 at a residence in the area of Aztec, according to The Daily Times archives.
The DA’s office on Dec. 9 amended the criminal complaint, adding a first-degree felony charge of child abuse (results in great bodily harm), according to court documents.
He faces an 18-year prison sentence if convicted of the child abuse count and three-year prison sentence if convicted of the aggravated battery charge.
FARMINGTON The San Juan County District Attorney’s Office have added a first-degree felony count of child abuse against a man accused of a shooting after the DA’s office learned the gunshot victim was a juvenile.