Court documents reveal details of kitten abuse

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Police have arrested a man in connection with an animal abuse case involving a nine-week-old kitten. Authorities say when the kitten was found in June, she had been badly burned by fireworks and may have been dropped into a backyard fire pit.

A tip led officers to Matthew Jerome, 22, who was arrested Tuesday evening. He faces two felony counts of torture and one misdemeanor count of neglect.

Someone dropped the kitten off at Animal Care and Control after finding it in the area of 4300 Foxgrove, near the intersection of Washington Center and Huguenard on the north side of Fort Wayne. Officials there named it Sparkle.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Allen County court, Sparkle originally belonged to Ashley Jackson who lived with Jerome.

The kitten and its injuries were discovered by a neighbor in early June while Jerome sat outside on his home’s front stoop.  Jerome denied owning the kitten when asked by the neighbor and later told detectives that was because he no longer wanted the animal.

In an interview with investigators, Jackson said she had obtained the kitten a couple weeks before the incident.  She said Jerome was open about not wanting the pet in the first place and would often complain about the animal being around, the court document said.  When the kitten went missing, Jerome told Jackson he had given it away to Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control to make her mad.

Jackson informed police that she and Jerome had been in an argument on Friday, June 1 when Jerome started a fire in a backyard fire pit to burn pictures and letters related to the two.

According to Matthew Jerome, the kitten was around during the burning and when he turned to walk back into the house he heard the animal cry out in pain.  He claimed to see the kitten in the fire struggling to get out, which it eventually did.  Jerome later suggested that he may have “bumped” the kitten into the fire.  He acknowledged that he did not help the kitten upon seeing it in the pit.

During their investigation, officials heard from Ashley Jackson’s sister, Alyssa who informed them that she witnessed Jerome burning the kitten’s whiskers off with a lighter earlier in the day on June 1 while sitting on a couch inside the home.

When dropped off at Animal Care and Control, Sparkle's whiskers had been burned off, the pads on her feet were burned, and it appeared that a rubber band had been used to attach fireworks to her tail. 

The entire probable cause affidavit can be read by clicking here.

Animal Care and Control officers say Sparkle has been in the care of a veterinarian. She developed a skin condition because of the burns, but is expected to make a full recovery. She will eventually be put up for adoption.

According to Animal Care and Control, the adoption will be done using a lottery system. People in Allen County who are interested in adopting Sparkle can submit their name for a drawing.

This is the first story NewsChannel 15 did when the kitten was found tortured the first week of June: