BEAUMONT, Texas — Authorities are looking for a Beaumont man charged along with another for torturing and killing a cat in 2021 as his May 2023 trial approaches.
Beaumont Police are searching for Donaldvan Williams, 28, of Beaumont, who was indicted on federal charges of animal crushing and aiding and abetting along with Decorius Mire, 23, also of Beaumont, in the 2021 torture death of the cat.
Williams is wanted for not "complying with the terms of his release" according to the office of Federal Magistrate Judge Zack Hawthorne.
His next court appearance is on May 15, 2023, when his trial is set before Federal District Judge Marcia A. Crone.
Mire pleaded guilty in federal court on February 21, 2023, to the animal crushing charge. Animal crushing is defined as, “actual conduct in which one or more living non-human mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians, is purposely crushed, burned, drowned, suffocated, impaled, or otherwise subjected to serious bodily injury.”
Mire faces up to seven years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
Williams was arrested for an outstanding warrant on September 20, 2022. Mire was arrested eight days later in Port Arthur.
Police say that it happened on October 15, 2021 after Mire and Williams found a live cat in the parking lot of a Beaumont apartment complex. Officials believe Mire encouraged Williams to kick the cat.
Williams allegedly did, sending the cat about 15 to 20 feet into the air, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Texas release.
Mire filmed the cat's torture and death on his cell phone and posted the video to his social media accounts. The Beaumont Police Department later received a Crime Stoppers tip with the video.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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