Ridgely man charged in deadly goat attack
A Caroline County man has been arrested in connection with the mutilation and death of two goats and the maiming of a third at a local state park.
According to Maryland Natural Resources Police, 21-year-old Mervyn Downes III turned himself in Friday night after officers searched his home and found evidence linking him to the two crimes earlier this spring.
Reports indicated on April 8th, officers were called to the Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park after two goats were found dead, their throats slit. Then on May 2nd, officers reportedly returned to the arboretum after another goat had been attacked, but survived the stabbing.
Police say, evidence collected at the scene eventually led investigators to Downes, who lives on a road abutting the park.
In addition to the animal cruelty charges, Downes has also been reportedly charged with three counts of malicious destruction of property, two counts of destroying an animal in a state park, two counts of having a weapon in a state park, two counts each of trespassing and being in a state park after hours. Officers allegedly also seized several weapons from his home.
Reportedly, Downes was charged last December with multiple counts of illegal deer hunting and pleaded guilty in Queen Anne’s District Court to one charge. He was given probation before judgment and fined $1,500, all of it suspended. He is on probation until September.
The maximum sentence for aggravated cruelty to animals is three years in prison and a fine of $5,000. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Caroline District Court on July 5.
