POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida woman is behind bars after deputies said she poisoned and killed her neighbors’ pets.
Polk County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Tamesha Knighten, 51, who is a licensed nurse, after she allegedly poisoned a neighbors’ two pet cats and their pregnant Chihuahua, which also killed the 8 puppies in the dog’s womb.
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The investigation began when the couple’s two cats, Luna and Pancake, died within hours of each other, both exhibiting the following symptoms: choking, unable to breathe, foaming from the mouth, and in obvious significant pain. Approximately four hours later, they could not find their pregnant Chihuahua named Daisy and began looking around the house for her. When they found Daisy, she was obviously deceased, along with her puppies which were still in her womb.
Detectives said Knighten told them that she had placed ant bait outside on the ground around her air conditioning unit due to ants getting into the unit. When they looked in the victims’ yard, they said they found a white Styrofoam bowl on the ground, with a white meaty substance mixed with a dark colored material.
Knighten told detectives she did not own any white Styrofoam bowls, until detectives found a package of them in her pantry, at which point she said, “Oh, I guess I do have them.” She also had canned chicken in her pantry, after denying that she had any.
Detectives noted there are video cameras in her yard and asked to see the video from that day. She showed them the video, which showed her wearing a blue glove, holding a white Styrofoam bowl containing a white and brown substance.
Samples from the white Styrofoam bowl of chicken laced with what Knighten described as her “special seasoning,” of the pets’ tissues taken during their necropsies, and of the ant bait, were sent to the University of Florida and analyzed by that school’s veterinary pathology department, as well as labs at Texas A&M University and Michigan State University.
According to the labs, the chemical analysis confirmed that the pets had ingested Phorate, a pesticide found in insecticides, which matched the sample from the laced canned chicken in the bowl, and doctors stated that Phorate would have caused the animals to suffer. The ant bait was not present in any of the animals.
Knighten faces three counts felony animal cruelty and one count depositing poison in a public area.
She remains behind bars at the Polk County Jail.