Kevin Justin Mayorga (via Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
A 32-year-old man in Florida is facing multiple felonies for allegedly biting the head off of his girlfriend’s pet python during a domestic dispute in their home. Kevin Justin Mayorga was taken into custody early Monday morning and charged with one count each of animal cruelty with the intent to kill, false imprisonment, and resisting an officer with violence, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a sworn affidavit of probable cause obtained by Law&Crime, at approximately 5:20 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, officers responded to calls regarding reports of a domestic dispute taking place at an apartment complex located in the 8000 block of SW 210th Street.
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Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they could hear a male and female arguing as they approached the first floor apartment that was the subject of the call. Officers knocked on the door and then heard a woman begin to scream loudly, the document says.
No one answered the door, but shortly after knocking, the officers said they heard the woman inside of the apartment yell for them to “just kick the door in.”
Officers forced their way into the home and said they saw an adult female in the entryway and an adult male – later identified as Mayorga – fleeing to get behind a door and close it.
The affidavit reports that police ordered Mayorga to stop running and put his hands up, but he allegedly resisted. One of the officers used a Taser on Mayorga, but the weapon reportedly had “no effect” on him. As police attempted to detain Mayorga, he allegedly began swinging at them, hitting one officer in the eye with his wrist, which had a handcuff on it. The strike resulted in an abrasion on the officer’s face, the affidavit states.
It was only after Mayorga was detained using hand and leg restraints and brought out of the apartment that police learned about the grisly fate of the female victim’s pet snake. The woman reportedly told the officers that Mayorga had grabbed her snake – a ball python, which typically reaches about four or five feet in length – and bit the animals head clean off. Officers then reportedly located the snake – and the animal’s severed head – both lying on the ground next to the front door.
Mayorga was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where he is currently being held on $15,000 bond, according to jail records.
County court records show that Mayorga was appointed a public defender at his Tuesday bond hearing.
(image via Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)