Man sentenced to 40 years for torturing, killing kittens at animal shelter
By CBS Texas Staff
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WEATHERFORD, Texas (KTVT) — A 23-year-old man convicted of torturing and killing kittens at a North Texas animal shelter was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to 12 additional animal cruelty charges.
Gabriel Skyler Caswell, who was arrested in 2023, received 10-year sentences for each of the 12 remaining charges. The sentences will run concurrently but will be stacked on top of the 30 years he had already received in three previous trials, Parker County District Attorney Jeff Swain said.
Caswell had already been convicted in three separate cases in 2024, receiving the maximum 10-year sentence each time. The first two sentences were assessed by juries, while the third was handed down by 43rd District Judge Craig Towson. As part of his plea agreement, Caswell also agreed to dismiss all appeals.
Swain, who prosecuted the case alongside Assistant District Attorney Ryan Whyte, described the abuse as some of the most disturbing he had seen in nearly 30 years.
“To stare into the eyes of an innocent kitten while you literally snuff the life out of them like this defendant did takes a really sick and twisted person,” Swain said in a press release.
Surveillance footage from the Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter showed Caswell stomping on kittens, smashing their heads and necks, and throwing them against walls. Some videos depicted him carrying the lifeless bodies of kittens and discarding them in trash cans. Jurors in his trials were visibly emotional, with some crying as they watched the evidence, the Parker County District Attorney’s Office said in their press release.
Caswell was caught after a shelter employee walked in on him abusing a kitten, the Parker County District Attorney’s Office said. That discovery prompted an extensive review of surveillance footage by law enforcement and shelter staff, which ultimately led to multiple charges.
According to Swain, Caswell admitted to a police detective that he had taken out his frustrations on the kittens due to stress from an infant that wouldn’t sleep and an addiction to pornography.
Caswell will not be eligible for parole until his time served, plus good behavior credits, equals at least a quarter of his sentence. Once paroled on one sentence, he will begin serving the next, a process that could keep him incarcerated for decades, authorities said.
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