Police say they were at Lesco's home on an unrelated matter when they learned of the cat killing. Police say Lesco told them he was doing dishes when the bird flew from his cage to join him and the cat, named Pepper, jumped up and grabbed it. He said he hit the cat in the head with a baseball bat and then suffocated it with a rug.
He says he struck the cat to try to get it to drop the bird, and then suffocated it because he couldn't afford to take it to a vet to treat its injuries.
