A Snapchat video showed a Florida raccoon on fire. That didn’t end well for the narrator
A Sarasota woman has been convicted of animal cruelty for burning a raccoon alive in a viral Snapchat video, the State Attorney’s Office announced.
Deputies arrested Alicia Kincheloe in September 2022 after multiple Snapchat videos showing the raccoon set on fire went viral.
On Monday, the State Attorney’s Office said Kincheloe was found guilty of one count of animal cruelty and one count of tampering with evidence. The crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors described the raccoon’s killing in Southwest Florida as a “horrific death,” in a statement released to local media.
“I am delighted that the jury agreed that all animals, whether domesticated or wild, should be treated humanely and with respect,” said Andrew van Sickle, the animal cruelty prosecutor in Sarasota. “A simple phone call to Animal Services or FWC would have averted this entire tragedy.”
The Bradenton Herald previously reported on the incident, which saw Kincheloe and her father, Roddy Kincheloe, arrested and booked into the Sarasota County Jail for their role in the raccoon’s death.
Sarasota woman guilty after animal abuse video
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Agricultural Unit learned of two Snapchat viral videos on Aug. 11, 2022.
In the first video, Alicia Kincheloe narrates as she walks up to the dumpster where she said that she and a coworker had heard the raccoon rustling the night before as they were taking the trash out at the end of their shifts, the Herald previously reported. The video then zooms in on the raccoon who was looking up at her, not acting aggressively.
She claims in the video that the raccoon had been “running at people and trying to attack people,” although there is no evidence of that in the videos.
A second video shows Kincheloe’s father hosing down a smoking dumpster in the 5700 block of Sarah Avenue in south Sarasota.
“Some people say throw an apple with bleach in there,” she said over the sound of the hose. “We just toasted his (expletive), who’s hungry?” Alicia Kincheloe said as the camera zooms into the dumpster where the charred remains of the raccoon can be seen.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Kincheloe told detectives in August 2022 that she made the Snapchat videos but claimed the dumpster was already on fire when she came back from lunch, the Herald previously reported.
Kincheloe said the dumpster then flared up, which led to her father grabbing a hose to put out the fire. She also said her father threw a cigarette into the dumpster before they went to lunch.
During the trial, she attempted to save the animal by pouring, Kincheloe said dumped the contents of a gas canister, which she thought was filled with water, into the garbage can. As part of the investigation, deputies determined that the liquid was flammable, according to an arrest report.
“Within a few hours, a separate surveillance system revealed Ms. Kincheloe taking the burnt raccoon from the dumpster and disposing of the evidence,” the state attorney’s news release said.
A jury found Kincheloe guilty on Wednesday, according to court records. Her sentencing hearing is set for December 19.
A criminal animal abuse charge against Roddy, Alicia’s father, is still pending. According to court records, his jury trial is set to begin Jan. 16, 2024.
