A 22-year-old Palmhurst man pleaded not guilty Thursday to an animal cruelty charge nearly one year after investigators said he admitted to “curb stomping” a stray cat.

Alec Omar Espericueta was initially arrested on April 10, 2025, and released from jail that same day on a $100,000 bond, Hidalgo County jail records show.

According to an affidavit obtained by Channel 5 News, a Mission police officer responded to the parking lot of the Tru-Fit located on 1718 E. Griffin Parkway on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, shortly before 11:30 p.m. A woman told the officer she saw a man — later identified as Espericueta — slamming a cat on the ground and then hitting it with a rock.

“The male then placed the cat on the edge of the cement curb and began stomping on it,” the affidavit stated, adding that the witness said that Espericueta then went inside the gym following the attack.

The witness also provided a video of the incident where Espericueta could be seen “striking the cat with his foot multiple times."

The dead gray cat was located in the parking lot by police.

When officers made contact with Espericueta, he said he had picked up the cat from his neighborhood with a trap and placed the animal in a cage in the bed of his truck and drove to the gym.

The affidavit states that Espericueta told police that when he arrived at the gym, he noticed the cat looked like it was dying and was “seizing and foaming at the mouth.”

Espericueta then said he got upset and began slamming the cat on the ground multiple times, and smashed the cat’s head with the rock.

“Espericueta then picked up the cat and placed it on the curb stomping on the cat’s head and neck several times,” the affidavit said. 

A pre-trial hearing was set for Monday, March 30, 2026.