Florida nurse accused of killing neighbor’s cats, pregnant dog with pesticide

A Florida nurse was arrested for allegedly poisoning her neighbor’s pets with pesticide — after threatening to kill the animals if they continued to enter her yard.

Tamesha Knighten was arrested Wednesday on three counts of animal cruelty and one count of depositing poison in public after detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said she poisoned two pet cats and a pregnant Chihuahua on Aug. 16, 2023.

The 51-year-old licensed practical nurse also killed eight puppies in the dog’s womb, authorities said.

“We saw that one of them was in horrific distress, others had already died,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference, according to WFLA.

“The one that was in horrific distress died immediately,” he added.

Officials began investigating after the two cats, Luna and Pancake, died within hours of each other. Both felines were reportedly choking, foaming at the mouth, and in serious pain, authorities said.

Luna and Pancake’s owners then realized they could not find their pregnant 4-year-old dog, Daisy, and began searching for her. But by the time they had found her, she had already died.

The deceased animals’ owners told detectives Knighten had previously threatened to poison their pets if they continued entering her yard. They also said they saw Knighten pacing in her yard the day their pets died.

Knighten was caught on her home surveillance footage wearing rubber gloves and taking a bowl of chicken strips mixed with what she called her “special seasoning” into her yard to feed the neighborhood animals, Judd said.

Samples taken from the bowl and the dead pets confirmed the “special seasoning” was Phorate, a pesticide found in insecticides, officials said.

“Do not ever poison innocent animals,” Judd said. “Unless, of course, you want to go to jail as well.”

“We call her an ‘IJN,’” Judd said. “An ‘in-the-jail’ nurse.”

Judd said it took so long to get an arrest in the case because samples had to be sent to labs at three different universities.

“These people lost their beloved pets in a most horrific way, and she lost her freedom by going to jail,” Judd said in a release. “It takes a cold-hearted person to poison and kill two cats and a pregnant dog – it’s hard to imagine how a person in the medical field could do such a thing.”

Knighten, who worked for United Health Care at Wellmed in Lakeland, was charged with three counts of felony animal cruelty. 

She was booked into the Polk County Jail and it’s unclear if she bonded out.