Fort Myers man faces animal abuse charge after fatally injuring ex-girlfriend’s kitten

A Fort Myer man faces a charge of animal cruelty after police say he fatally injured a kitten on purpose during an argument Sunday.

Dumetrice Wilson, 48, got into an argument with an ex-girlfriend at her home around 5 p.m. According to the Fort Myers Police Department, Wilson grabbed the woman’s 8-week-old kitten named Boomer during the argument and intentionally injured it.

The woman ran to the police department to report the abuse and was escorted home, at which point the police detained Wilson.

According to a report from Lee County Domestic Animal Services, the kitten had been kicked, stomped and thrown against a wall.”

When the animal control officer arrived the kitten was not moving and breathing heavily.

Boomer the kitten was owner-surrendered and then euthanized.

Wilson was arrested and faces a charge of torturing or inflicting pain, serious physical injury or death on an animal.

“We just need to get it out there that you know animal abuse is wrong and you know, don’t do it,” said Brian Wierima, community relations coordinator with the Gulf Coast Humane Society. “It went through a lot of pain but you know the thing that really breaks my heart when I hear of sick cases like this is the fright that the animal went through.”

Kittens are very fragile and it doesn’t take a lot of trauma to cause them to be euthanized, Wierima said. He called it a brutal crime.

“Hopefully he gets the fullest extent of the law and he is punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Wierima said.

The Gulf Coast Humane Society is calling for the creation of a national list of animal abusers.

Wilson has a history of domestic violence.

In 2020, he was arrested for battery after allegedly smacking a woman in the face. According to a Fort Myers police report, she was thrown to the floor. When officers arrived they found mayonnaise, syrup and ketchup all over the living room walls and floor and the woman was also covered in the food substances.

The charges were ultimately dropped.

Also in 2020, he was arrested after violating a protective order when he followed an ex-girlfriend home, records show.

The woman called police and he was escorted into the house they once shared so he could collect his belongings.