Plainfield Animal Abuser Attacked Cat Twice, Breaking Its Rib And Causing Its Eye To Pop Out: Prosecutors

PLAINFIELD, IL — A Plainfield accused of abusing his partner's cat on two separate occasions was granted pretrial release last week, according to court records.

Axel Molina-Hernandez, 29, was charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and two counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals after prosecutors said he choked a cat so hard "her eye popped out of the socket," according to a petition to deny his pretrial release.

Molina-Hernandez lived in the 13900 block of South Marybrook Drive in Plainfield with his partner, their dog and his partner's cat, Cricket. When his partner was at work, he was placed in charge of the two animals, according to court documents.

On Oct. 15, while his partner was at work, Molina-Hernandez is accused of choking the cat, causing her to lose consciousness and go into shock.

"'Cricket' was found to have her eye out of the socket, her heart elevated off the sternum, and to have fluid in her lungs which are all consistent with blunt force trauma or choking," the court documents read.

It wasn't the first time he abused the cat, according to prosecutors. In December 2025, Molina-Hernandez brought her to the Animal Medical Center of Plainfield after he struck her multiple times and threw her into a wall, resulting in her losing consciousness and having a seizure, prosecutors alleged. Cricket also suffered a broken rib in that incident, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Molina-Hernandez, who proclaimed he wasn't a cat person, previously attended anger management classes for his anger toward Cricket. After showing his partner that he attended, she gave him another chance to prove he could be around the cat, prosecutors said.

"[It is] arguable the only reason he even brought her into the Animal Medical Center was because of his worry of his girlfriend/wife being mad at him," the court documents allege, adding that he caused even more serious harm to Cricket in the second incident.

Molina-Hernandez appeared in court on Oct. 18 and was granted pretrial release by Judge Brian Barrett on several conditions, including home confinement monitoring and a restraining order.

He was barred from entering within 3,000 feet of his Plainfield home, and he was told no animals were allowed to live in the Joliet residence where he will now reside.