OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — Three men are in custody after a video showed sulfuric acid being poured on a caged cat while the act was recorded earlier this year, according to the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office.
Two detectives with the agency served one of the suspects, Jaymarion Lawton, 19, with a search warrant for his cellphone on April 5.
While looking at the phone, detectives discovered an eight-minute video that showed an individual pouring Liquid Fire, which is sulfuric acid used to unclog drains, onto a cat that was inside an animal trap.
Investigators said the incident occurred on Feb. 14 in the 300 block of Northeast 17th Avenue in Okeechobee County.
The sheriff's office said the video sparked a second investigation into the incident.
They said their investigation revealed that Lawton recorded the video on his phone while Andrew Jackson III, 21, was identified as a second person recording the incident.
Wanya Sands, 22, was identified by the sheriff's office as the person who was seen on the video pouring the Liquid Fire onto the cat's body and head multiple times throughout the eight-minute video.
Detectives said they located Sands on Tuesday and interviewed him. During the interview, the sheriff's office said he began to flee on foot from the detectives, prompting them to tackle him and take him into custody.
Sands is accused of aggravated animal cruelty and resisting arrest without violence.
Jackson later turned himself in to the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office without incident. He is accused of being an accessory after the fact to a level five third-degree felony of aggravated animal cruelty.
Lawton, who was in custody from last week's search warrant and those charges, also faces a charge of accessory after the fact to a level five third-degree felony of aggravated animal cruelty.
The cat's whereabouts are unknown. The sheriff's office said it was reported that it was let out of the cage and ran away.
Animal control officers in Okeechobee County were also contacted, and there were no reports of cats being turned in for refuge. They also have not received any cats since the incident that showed any signs of chemical burns, which would have been the result of the Liquid Fire being poured onto the cat.
Animal cruelty became a felony nationwide in 2019.