15 year old charged for beating a cat to death with a baseball bat

CHINQUAPIN — Duplin County Sheriff Stratton Stokes confirmed that a 15-year-old was charged with felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty on Tuesday, Nov. 5, for beating a cat to death with a baseball bat near Chinquapin.

Sheriff Stokes told Duplin Journal that a video recorded off of a Snapchat was sent to the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office Monday afternoon showing the teenager beating the cat.

The video which had been circulating on social media was a recording of a Snapchat on someone else’s phone. The video showed a blonde white male wearing an orange ball cap beating a tuxedo cat with a baseball bat, the disturbing video had the tagline “who is the sport on this.”

After reviewing the video, Stokes said they went to the juvenile court council and secured a juvenile detention charge for both felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty.

“The incident happened in Duplin County, it was back toward Lyman road,” said Sheriff Stokes, adding that since the suspect is 15 years old, they cannot release any further information.

When asked about further steps and if the parents will be held responsible for the teen’s behavior he explained that at that point in the investigation they were not looking at the parents at all. He also explained that a judge will decide what happens next and if the juvenile needs any type of treatment. “A lot of times, they will be put on probation,” he explained.

The charges have been turned over to the North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency System, which is the agency responsible for handling criminal cases involving  juvenile delinquents, and where they will undergo the juvenile justice process instead of the adult criminal court system

The male juvenile is a student at East Duplin High School.