MIAMI (AP) — Authorities say a teenager has been arrested and accused of committing a series of cat mutilation deaths in his Miami area community.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office says 18-year-old Tyler Weinman was taken into custody early Sunday. He is charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle says she hopes the residents of the Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay neighborhoods "will feel relieved and their cats will be safe once again."
Prosecutors say Weinman is in police custody. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney yet.
Horrified owners have been finding their cats killed and mutilated for the past month. Investigators have been looking into about two dozen deaths.
