A 33-year-old Mount Clemens man is facing a felony charge after prosecutors say he stomped a woman's kitten to death outside a historic downtown church earlier this month. Marcus Winfrey allegedly woke up agitated while sleeping on the steps of the First United Methodist Church and began swearing at a woman before stomping on the head of her gray and white kitten, named Asia, killing the animal on September 2.
According to ClickOnDetroit, Winfrey has been charged with first-degree animal torture, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The station reports that prosecutors say Winfrey stomped on and killed the woman's kitten, and that his bond has been set at $50,000 cash, surety, or 10 percent. He remains in custody at the Macomb County Jail.
The church where the incident occurred, First United Methodist Church of Mount Clemens, appears in a listing titled "Methodist Episcopal Church" on The Historical Marker Database.
Prosecutor Cites Pattern of Using Pets to Hurt People
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said the allegations involve using an innocent animal to hurt another person, per the same account from the station's report. Lucido also said offenders convicted of animal cruelty should face meaningful consequences. The case is among felony animal-torture prosecutions involving Lucido's office, according to ClickOnDetroit.
Winfrey is also being treated as a habitual offender, a status that serves as an aggravating factor at sentencing. The dossier does not specify what prior felony triggered that designation in Winfrey's case, and his relationship to the kitten's owner has not been detailed publicly.
What Michigan Law Says About Animal Torture Charges
Michigan's animal cruelty statute, MCL 750.50b, was amended in 2018 to raise the maximum prison sentence for first-degree animal torture from four to ten years, according to Michigan State University's Animal Legal & Historical Center. That amendment specifically classified animal cruelty as a first-degree felony when an offender intentionally harms or kills a companion animal with the intent to cause mental suffering to or exert control over another person, per Michigan Humane.
That framework reflects research on the connection between animal abuse and interpersonal violence. Studies compiled by Michigan State University's Animal Legal & Historical Center found that nearly 89 percent of women in abusive relationships reported that their abusers threatened, harmed, or killed companion animals as a tactic of power and control.
Case Moves Through Local Court System
As the case proceeds, Winfrey remains innocent until proven guilty.
Earlier this month, Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Anthony R. Servitto sentenced a 29-year-old St. Clair Shores man to 30 days in jail and 18 months of probation after a no-contest plea to third-degree animal torture for assaulting his dog, with that defendant also ordered to wear an alcohol tether and barred from animal contact, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. The St. Clair Shores defendant was also barred from animal contact, as Hoodline has previously reported.
Recent animal-cruelty cases have also been reported in Macomb County, including a Warren man accused of stabbing a family dog.
