Both defendants charged with killing several kittens last year failed to show up to court at the Lafayette County Courthouse on Wednesday.
Representatives of the In Defense of Animals and Tubbs Spay & Neuter Project attended the docket hearing.
Carl Travis Jr. and Dontavious Smith both face four felony charges for torturing and killing four kittens in July 2020. According to reports, Travis beat and tortured the kittens while Smith recorded a video that was put up on Snapchat.
However, neither defendant appeared in court on Wednesday.
According to Lafayette County Circuit Court Clerk Jeff Busby, Smith did not show up to court for unknown reasons, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Travis did not show up because he is reportedly in jail in Grenada County on a felony armed robbery charge.
“It is a certainty that animal abusers are sociopaths who gratify themselves with no respect for the welfare of fellow humans any more than the animals they cruelly terrorize and torture,” said Doll Stanley, Justice for Animals Senior Campaigner at In Defense of Animals.
In October 2022, In Defense of Animals’ Justice for Animals Senior Campaigner Doll Stanley and Cyd Dunlap of Tubbs Spay & Neuter Project met with then Lafayette County Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Kilpatrick and presented her with 16,526 signatures supporting Travis and Smith’s prosecution.
The petition can be presented to the presiding judge during the sentencing phase of the two men’s trials.
Kilpatrick assured the advocates and her constituents that the District Attorney’s Office intends to seek incarceration for both men.
Staff report
