Teen fatally poisons classmate’s show goat, Texas officials say. ‘Don’t like cheaters’
A 17-year-old high school student is accused of killing a classmate’s show goat by poisoning it, Texas officials told news outlets.
The teenager was involved in Future Farmers of America through Vista Ridge High School and allegedly poisoned another FFA member’s goat using pesticide on Oct. 23, KXAN reported. In an interview with police, the girl said she poisoned the goat because her classmate is a “cheater and I don’t like cheaters,” according to investigators.
Cameras captured the girl go into an FFA facility near the school with a “syringe-like item,” which investigators say she used to force-feed pesticide into the goat’s mouth while she held the animal down, the station reported.
McClatchy News is not naming the girl because she is a minor. Court records show a charge of cruelty to livestock animals was filed against her on Nov. 22.
McClatchy reached out to an attorney listed for the teen but didn’t immediately hear back.
The girl took photos and video of the goat throughout the day and called the family of the classmate who was raising the animal, telling them it was “shaking or convulsing and not acting right,” the Austin American-Statesman reported.
A veterinarian examined the goat but couldn’t figure out what was wrong, the newspaper reported. The classmate held the goat in her arms as it died “bellowing in pain” the following day.
Police say the girl poisoned the goat with phosmet, a type of insecticide commonly used in the agriculture industry, the outlet reported.
The goat, named Willie, died roughly 21 hours after ingesting the phosmet, WOAI reported.
The girl told investigators she had made a previous attempt to poison Willie but was unsuccessful, officials say. A search of her phone shows she looked up other methods of poisoning animals, then searched “how to clear search history,” the outlet reported.
Vista Ridge High School is in Cedar Park, which is a roughly 20-mile drive northwest from Austin.
This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Teen fatally poisons classmate’s show goat, Texas officials say. ‘Don’t like cheaters’."