Florida Nurse Charged With Three Counts of Felony Animal Cruelty After Allegedly Killing Neighbors’ Cats, Dog

Tamesha Knighten, 51, faces multiple charges after she allegedly did some horrendous things to her neighbors’ pets.

Knighten faces three counts of felony animal cruelty and one count of depositing poison in a public area on accusations she killed her neighbors’ pets with poison-laced chicken on Aug. 16, 2023, the Polk County Sheriff’s office said during a press conference on Thursday.

The neighbors told authorities that Knighten had repeatedly threatened to kill their animals if the animals came into her yard, PEOPLE reported. On the day of the alleged poisoning, Knighten also allegedly yelled at the neighbors’ children while they were outside playing.

When their cat began behaving strangely, the suspect allegedly told them the cat had probably swallowed a frog.

Two cats, Luna and Pancake, and Daisy, a pregnant Chihuahua were killed by a highly concentrated amount of Phorate, a pesticide that is found in insecticides.

Knighten allegedly told authorities that she had laced chicken with the Phorate, which she described as her “special sauce,” according to the sheriff’s office.

On Aug. 16, both cats died within hours of each other. The family then noticed that the dog was missing. When they found her, she was deceased, as were the puppies.

Authorities investigated the incident and discovered video footage of Knighten wearing a glove and holding a similar bowl to the the one authorities had found during their investigation. The bowl had the same white and brown substance inside it, according to the statement from the sheriff’s office.

Labs at Texas A&M University and Michigan State University confirmed that the animals ingested Phorate.

Knighten was arrested and charged.