COCONUT GROVE, Fla. – Coconut Grove resident Nannette O’Connell saw something strange coming out of her garbage bin Monday morning, right off Hilola Street.
“I saw peacock feathers sticking out,” O’Connell said.
She didn’t initially look inside, but came in the evening to put a bag of trash in and made a terrible discovery.
“That’s what I realized that there has been an entire bird placed in there,” she said.
A dead peacock had been stuffed inside her trash bin.
“It was like wet and you could still see (it) had some dried blood and his feet had some dried blood as well,” said O’Connell.
She notified neighbors online, some of whom came to see the bird for themselves.
But when they turned its body over, they made another disturbing discovery.
“A BB pellet came out,” O’Connell said, adding that she believes it points to something more sinister. “I don’t think that this was an accident. I think somebody did this on purpose. Somebody intended to kill the bird.”
Local 10 News reported on Monday about a suspicious incident involving a peacock that happened Sunday night around two blocks away.
Neighbors reported seeing people allegedly abusing a peacock, and one found a hunting dart in their yard.
Yet another neighbor told Local 10 News’ Liane Morejon that their son observed teens using a blow dart gun or some type of weapon to target the peacocks.
They’re now calling on Miami police to put all the pieces together.
“I would actually like them to investigate because this is not -- it’s not somebody who ran over the peacock by accident,” said O’Connell. “This is done purposefully.”
Anyone with information is urged to call the Miami Police Department at 305-603-6640.