Murder or Mayhem: The Life and Death of Skeeter

Police in Lakeland, Florida have a classic whodunit on their hands after finding the corpse of a local named Skeeter under a motor home. Polly Boykin, 52, was arrested for the death of the cat but has claimed “self defense” in shooting Skeeter. A court will have to decide whether Skeeter was the hunter or the hunted.

Boykin claims that Skeeter wandered into her yard and was confronted by her pit bull. She says the cat threatened her pit bull, her sister, and then herself before she shot him. Neighbors have a different story. They say that Polly chased Skeeter under the motor home of a neighbor and that the shooting was unnecessary. The police clearly did not accept the self-defense claim.

This is not the first claim made by a human against a cat in a criminal case (here and here and here)

Boykin claims that her hand is now infected from Skeeter’s scratch — evidence of a victim’s struggle or a different victim’s defensive wound?

She is now charged with animal cruelty and discharging a weapon in public.

Source: Ledger

Jonathan Turley