After entering a guilty plea to 12 additional charges of animal cruelty, a 23-year-old man found guilty of torturing and killing kittens at an animal shelter in North Texas was given a 40-year jail sentence on Tuesday.
The last 12 accusations against Gabriel Skyler Caswell, who was arrested in 2023, carried 10-year sentences. Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain stated that although the sentences will run consecutively, they will be added to the 30 years he had previously been given in three prior convictions.
In 2024, Caswell had already been found guilty three times and given the maximum 10-year sentence in each occasion. Jurors determined the first two sentences, and 43rd District Judge Craig Towson imposed the third. Caswell also consented to reject all appeals as part of his plea deal.
Swain, who co-led the prosecution with Assistant District Attorney Ryan Whyte, said the abuse was among the most upsetting he had witnessed in almost three decades.
“To stare into the eyes of an innocent kitten while you literally snuff the life out of them like this defendant did takes a really sick and twisted person,” Swain states in a press release.
Abuse of kittens is depicted in videos that were revealed during the trial
Caswell was shown on surveillance camera showing him stomping on kittens, shattering their heads and necks, and hurling them against walls.
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The footage was taken from the Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter. In some of the footage, he was seen carrying the lifeless bodies of kittens and throwing them away in garbage cans.
According to a news release issued by the Parker County District Attorney’s Office, the jurors who saw the evidence in his trials were visibly emotional, and several of them even shed tears as they saw the evidence.
According to the Parker County District Attorney’s Office, Caswell was apprehended when an employee of the shelter witnessed him mistreating a kitten.
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This finding prompted police enforcement and shelter officials to conduct a comprehensive analysis of security material, which ultimately resulted in many charges being brought against the individual.
Caswell reportedly acknowledged to a police detective that he had taken out his anger on the kittens as a result of stress brought on by an infant who refused to sleep and an addiction to pornography. Swain makes this claim.
In order for Caswell to be eligible for parole, he must first demonstrate that he has spent at least a quarter of his term, in addition to receiving credits for good behavior.
According to the authorities, if he is released from one sentence, he will immediately begin serving the subsequent sentence, which is a procedure that might keep him behind for decades.
