Lakeland Nurse Accused Of Poisoning Neighbor's Cats, Pregnant Dog

LAKELAND — A Lakeland nurse accused of intentionally poisoning and killing her neighbor's pet cats and pregnant Chihuahua is now facing charges, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Thursday at a press conference.

Judd said the fatal poisoning happened on Aug. 16, 2023, when a couple's two cats, Pancake and Luna, died within hours of each other at their North Davis Avenue home.

About four hours later, the couple found Daisy - a pregnant Chihuahua carrying eight puppies - dead at their home, authorities said in a news release.

Luna and Pancake had suffered choking, the inability to breathe, foaming from the mouth and significant pain, authorities said.

The couple accused Tamesha Knighten, a 51-year-old licensed practical nurse, of constantly threatening to poison their pets if they came into her yard, authorities said.

On the day of the suspected poisoning, the couple said Knighten had yelled at the couple's children who were playing outdoors and was pacing in her yard along the shared fence, per authorities.

"The victims asked her not to yell at their kids. They said Knighten was also outside when they noticed their cat acting strangely in the yard, foaming at the mouth and that Knighten said the cat must be choking on a frog," authorities said in the release.

During the police probe, Knighten was accused of falsely telling detectives she did not own Styrofoam bowls or canned chicken.

However, authorities said both items were found in her home, and she was seen on her own video surveillance wearing a blue glove while holding a white Styrofoam bowl that had a white and brown substance inside of it, authorities said.

"In the video, she’s also talking to a relative and pointing at the neighbor’s yard," authorities said in the release.

When asked about what was inside of the bowl, Knighten was accused of telling detectives she was carrying chicken with her "special seasoning" on it. She was then accused of telling them she put the bowl outside to feed local animals.

She also said she put ant killer around her home and that the pets had gotten into the ant killer, Judd said.

He said Luna, Pancake and Daisy all ate the chicken and ultimately died of poisoning. He noted the chemicals from the ant killer were not found in their systems.

Lab tests conducted by three universities showed the "special seasoning" the three pets had ingested was Phorate, an over-the-counter pesticide found in insecticides, Judd said.

"This Phorate was put in such toxic levels that immediately it caused the death of these three animals," he said.

Polk County's Agricultural Crimes Unit arrested Knighten Wednesday night and charged her on suspicion of three counts of felony animal cruelty and one count of depositing poison in a public area, the release said. She was booked into the Polk County Jail.

Judd sent a message to residents who may have issues with their neighbor's pets.

"Here's our warning to everyone else, if you're having problems with neighbors and their animals, resolve it with the neighbor peacefully and appropriately and legally," Judd said. "... Do not ever poison innocent animals unless, of course, you want to go to jail, as well."

He suggested residents contact the sheriff's office's Animal Investigations Unit to help resolve such conflicts.

Knighten was previously arrested in September 2013 on suspicion of aggravated battery (domestic) with a deadly weapon, the release said.