A 14-year old Laurel Hill teenager faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges following an investigation that started with allegations that he battered his mother during an argument over him “hurting animals”. Okaloosa County deputies went to a home on Fisherman’s Lane May 10th in response to a battery call. The teen’s mother says the middle school student had punched her with his fist and kicked her in the chin as she fell to the ground. The responding deputy found bruises on the mother and a small dog in a bedroom that was dead from a blow to the head. In the back yard, he found a chicken dead from an apparent pellet wound and in front of the house, a small poodle with an stab sound and a large dog with an apparent pellet wound.
The teen said he hit the dog in the head with a board, stabbed the small dog with a screwdriver, and shot the large dog and chicken with a pellet gun. During the investigation, deputies learned the teen was also responsible for two burglaries in the area. In connection with an April 19th burglary at 6480 Bill Lundy Road the teen is charged with entering the home by breaking a window in a door. He admitted taking two blue parakeets from their cage and then killing them. The juvenile says he threw their bodies into a small lake behind his house.
During the second burglary May 3rd at 6433 Bill Lundy Road, the teen admitted breaking into the home and stealing a Crossman BB gun. He says he also poured sugar and rocks in the gas tank of the homeowner’s SUV, quote – “Because I was mad.” The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged the juvenile with four counts of felony animal abuse causing cruel death or suffering, two counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals, one count of battery, two counts of burglary, criminal mischief, and two counts of theft.
He was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
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