Woman Pleads Guilty to Eating Cat in Crime That Sparked Springfield Claims

An Ohio woman pleaded guilty on Monday to killing and eating a cat in Ohio, over 150 miles from the city where false claims spread of Haitian migrants eating people's pets.

Allexis T. Ferrell, 27, was found next to the animal in Canton in August, after reportedly stomping on its head and then beginning to eat it. Officers said they found her with fur on her lips and blood on her hands and feet.

The story drew attention from Ohio Senator and now Vice President-elect JD Vance at the height of the 2024 election campaign. He repeated claims that Haitian migrants were eating cats and dogs in Springfield, a city that is around 175 miles from Canton.

Police bodycam footage of Ferrell's arrest was falsely labeled on YouTube as that of a woman in Springfield eating a pet, fueling the claims which were also picked up by President-elect Donald Trump, who voiced them during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in early September.

"They're eating the dogs. They're eating the cats," Trump said in a debate moment that was widely shared on social media.

By the time of the debate, Ferrell had been charged with cruelty to companion animals, a felony offense, and was held on a $100,000 bond, court records seen by Newsweek showed.

Ferrell initially pleaded not guilty and a mental health assessment was ordered to see if she could stand trial. A clinic later found she was capable to understand the court proceedings, and at her competency hearing on Monday, she changed her plea.

​"I can't express the disappointment, shock, disgust that this crime has brought to me," Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank G. Forchione said in court. "I don't know what could prompt anyone to want to eat a cat.

"You've embarrassed this county. You've embarrassed this nation. More importantly, you've embarrassed yourself."

Ferrell was sentenced to 12 months in prison, the maximum sentence possible. She was also given 18 months of incarceration for breaking probation conditions, having previously been convicted of endangering children, theft and misuse of credit cards.

The judge told Ferrell that he wanted to give her three children a chance in life, but that if she showed she was bettering herself in prison, she could spend the last six months in a lower-security rehabilitation facility.

While she was never mentioned by name, and Canton was not mentioned, by the Republican Party candidate and his running mate, Ferrell's story sparked a backlash against the Haitian community in Springfield.

The city had welcomed some 12,000-plus migrants in recent years, many arriving legally through the Humanitarian Parole program which allows applicants to be vetted in their home country before getting a temporary visa for the U.S.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the Canton Police Department received calls from around the world about Ferrell's case after it emerged she was the one in the viral video.