Florida woman arrested for allegedly poisoning her neighbors' two cats and a pregnant Chihuahua

A woman employed as a nurse in Florida was arrested for animal cruelty after she allegedly poisoned her neighbors' pets.

The victims said they grew suspicious when their two cats, Luna and Pancake, died within hours of each other at their home on North Davis Avenue in Lakeland. The cats exhibited similar symptoms before expiring, including foaming at the mouth, choking, and being unable to breathe. They were also in significant pain.

Hours later when they found their Chihuahua dog named Daisy, she was also dead along with her eight unborn puppies.

The couple told officials that their neighbor, 51-year-old Tamesha Knighten, had previously threatened to poison their pets if they came into her yard. She also allegedly yelled at the victims' children earlier that day while they played ball outside.

Investigators asked Knighten to share her security footage from that day, and they said that the video showed her wearing a blue glove while handling a white Styrofoam bowl with a white and brown substance in it.

"These people lost their beloved pets in a most horrific way"

They said they found a similar bowl containing chicken laced with poison in the neighbors' yard.

Lab results found that the pets had been poisoned with phorate, a pesticide found in insecticides.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters at a media briefing that Knighten was charged with three felony counts of animal cruelty and one count of putting poison in a public place. He said she could not be charged with the deaths of the unborn Chihuahua puppies.

“This suspect, despite all evidence to the contrary, repeatedly denied killing her neighbors' pets, even telling our detectives that she’s a nurse and had too much to lose. Well, guess what? These people lost their beloved pets in a most horrific way, and she lost her freedom by going to jail," said Judd.

"It takes a cold-hearted person to poison and kill two cats and a pregnant dog," he concluded. "It’s hard to imagine how a person in the medical field could do such a thing.”

Knighten was booked into the Polk County jail.

Here's a news report about the arrest:

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