Kitten Killer Takes Plea Deal With 4.5-Year Prison Sentence: Reports

CHICAGO — A Chicago man accused of killing several kittens received a 4.5-year prison sentence in a plea deal announced Monday, according to reports.

Thomas Martel pleaded guilty to animal torture and aggravated cruelty to animals, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

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He was charged in 2023, when he was 22 years old, with a total of six felony counts, including aggravated animal cruelty and animal torture, police said at the time.

Martel, who lived in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, killed at least four kittens, FOX 32 reported. He drowned, squeezed, mutilated and microwaved them, according to the outlet, which noted an arrest report described him as having “serious mental problems.”

The Garrido Stray Rescue Foundation, in a social media post Monday, took issue with the deal, arguing the judge “chose to give Martel a way out instead of giving the victims their day in court.”

“Today was not the accountability we hoped for,” the social media post said.