A Texas teenage cheerleader is facing a felony charge for allegedly poisoning a rival competition goat at her high school with a pesticide in an act of ugly “jealousy,” according to an arrest affidavit and the goat's owner. .
Aubrey VanLandingham, a 17-year-old senior who was attending a livestock show with his goat, intentionally poisoned the goat named Willie on Oct. 23, according to an affidavit. He is reported to have confessed. Obtained by CBS Austin.
Security camera footage obtained by police showed a female student using a drain gun to force-feed Willie with a toxic pesticide at Vista Ridge High School's barn facility. According to the footage, the six-month-old goat was not able to escape easily and tried to escape, but ended up being trapped and forced to drink pesticide.
The student, identified by investigators as VanLandingham, left but returned twice within two hours to check on Willie and then called his classmate's mother to ask her about the goat. I told him that it was bad.
Willie suffered from convulsions and difficulty breathing, and died in his owner's arms within a day.
VanLandingham allegedly told police he killed the goat because he thought the goat's owner's 15-year-old daughter was a “swindler,” according to the affidavit. Not only that, but she also reportedly tried to kill Willie once more before, but failed.
“She admitted to poisoning him multiple times over several days, so it's a pretty tough situation. We don't believe there's any remorse, but we think she I hope he serves some time in prison and gets some psychological help,” said the 15-year-old's mother. told the Daily Mail this week.
“The whole thing is strange. We want justice to be served, but we don't want to get a slap on the wrist. We want to make sure she is punished. At this point, she doesn't seem to think she will or needs to be punished. She needs to take responsibility for what she did.”
A necropsy of the goat by a goat pathologist confirmed the cause of death was organophosphate poisoning from phosmet, an insecticide commonly used to control ectoparasites in livestock, according to the arrest report.
A police investigation revealed that VanLandingham's search history on her phone included questions about lethal doses of bleach on animals and how to poison pets. She then allegedly searched for “how to clear your search history” in an unsuccessful attempt to cover her tracks.
The cheerleader, who was recently named president of the school's Future Farmers of America, was an avid participant in the goat show with her pet, Lacey, the Daily Mail reported.
The girl's mother said VanLandingham remained jealous of her younger competitors, even though she had become president of her school's branch of the National Cattlemen's Association.
“She blames it on cheating, but from what we deciphered, she was just really jealous,” the 15-year-old's mother told the Daily Mail.
“You can’t even cheat when it comes to exhibiting goats,” she added. “That doesn't make sense. So that's where the jealousy really comes in.”
VanLandingham was arrested on Nov. 22 and charged with animal cruelty, a Texas state prison felony. She was released the same day on $5,000 bail.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to two years in prison. She was banned from attending high school while the case was pending. She is scheduled to appear in court on January 15th.
