Police investigating rash of cat killings in SE Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston police are trying to figure out who's behind a rash of cat killings in southeast Houston. Crime Stoppers put out a plea for help in one case, and when we went to check it out, we found out that it's happened at least two other times in the apartments that used to be known as Broadway Square.

"Why do you want to kill a cat? Cat aren't gonna harm nobody," Michael Walker says.

But someone killed two kittens in early July in the 7900 block of Morley. When a couple returned home on the night of July 9, they found the two burned, and one's head had been crushed.

"We filed over 200 animal cruelty charges last year. So this is very disturbing," Crime Stoppers and Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesman Jeff McShan.

That couple called Houston police. Investigators got no leads in the three months since, so Crime Stoppers got involved this week. McShan says one thing is clear: "...This was caused by humans. Somebody deliberately burned these kittens and crushed one of them."

The next week, just around the corner on Glencrest, a woman found a mama cat and her two kittens mutilated. She tells us they'd been stabbed, and it looked like someone had stomped on them. While we were there shooting video of where she found them, we bumped into Michael Walker who says his family's cat was also mutilated in July.

"He had a puncture wound on his side," says Walker. "I knew ain't no dog did this. Somebody stabbed him."

He and his wife tell us they let their two cats out every night before he goes to work, but that night only one came back when it was time. They found the other one right outside their door.

The Walkers say they used to see cats around all the time, and would even feed them. But around July that dropped off.

"I told him something is going on around here with all these cats being missing," Mrs. Walker says.

Their neighbor who found the three says she asked management to tell all the residents but that didn't happen. The complex didn't respond to our request for comment.

Crime Stoppers has offered a $5,000 reward. As much as they want to find the cat killer(s), they really want to stop something bigger from happening in their future.

"People that do this kind of crime usually escalate to something else. So that kinda scares us quite a bit as well," McShan says.

Anyone with information that can help HPD find the person(s) responsible is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).