Mother Convicted of Stabbing, Killing Family Cat Could Face Further Charges

A mother who allegedly stabbed her 14-year-old son’s cat to death last year could now be facing further charges for tampering with an alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet that was a condition of her sentence.

Kelly Palermo, 51, a Chicago native, was formally sentenced last month to 30 months probation and 90 days in jail after assisting in killing a family cat, the Daily Herald reported.

Palermo pleaded guilty Sept. 12 to the charges of aggravated animal cruelty and, in addition to her jail time, was fined $5,000 and banned for life from ever owning another pet.

Less than a week after her sentencing, though, Palermo was accused of meddling with the alcohol detection device she was sentenced to wear. Palermo has a history of alcohol abuse and has received two DUIs in the past.

Prosecutors in the case asked Judge Robert Miller to resentence Palermo because of her tampering, and Miller said he would consider the idea on Dec. 7 in court.

Palermo was at her ex-husband’s house in Elmhurst June 10 of last year when her son’s cat, Zeppelin, bit her, prosecutors explained. She and daughter Samantha Palermo’s immediate response was to kill the pet.

Palermo told police in an interview that she did encourage her daughter to kill the cat and “put it out of its misery” once her daughter had stabbed it once.

“You can’t take it to the vet now,” she said. “What are you going to do, say you stabbed the...cat? Who does this?”

Palermo’s 14-year-old son, who was at the house at the time, was upset and took the cat from her, Palermo said in the interview. He then called 911, but Palermo grabbed the cat away from him and held it down while Samantha stabbed it four more times.

Palermo began her jail sentence last week. Samantha was declared mentally unfit for trial and is receiving outpatient therapy. She’ll next be seen in court Nov. 17.

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Mug shot courtesy of the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.