The Ohio woman charged with killing and eating a cat today pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and was sentenced to a year in jail, records show.
Allexis Ferrell, 27, copped to the felony charge during a hearing in Stark County’s Court of Common Pleas.
Ferrell was arrested in late-August after she killed the animal by "stomping its head then eating the cat" on the grounds of the Canton public housing complex where she resided. Ferrell has been locked up in the county jail on $100,000 bond since the incident.
Police responding to a 911 call found Ferrell squatting next to the dead feline. She had blood on her feet and hands, and fur on her lips, cops reported. The pet’s owner has not been identified.
“Did you eat that cat?” a cop asked Ferrell, according to police bodycam footage. “Why’d you kill it?” Ferrell remained mute as the officer contacted dispatch and asked, “Will you call the Humane Society to see if they’ll come pick this cat up? It’s deceased.”
Ferrell’s case received national news coverage after some Donald Trump supporters pointed to the incident in light of the president-elect’s claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating cats and dogs owned by local residents.
Canton is about 175 miles from Springfield. Ferrell, who is not of Haitian descent, was born in the U.S..
Ferrell’s plea came after a competency hearing had been rescheduled for today. It does not appear that review occurred, though a judge had signed an order in October releasing her medical records.
Ohio court records show that Ferrell, at the time of her August arrest, was on probation for a 2023 felony conviction for child endangerment. Her rap sheet also includes multiple theft convictions.