Honea Charged After Opossum Video

He says the opossum was killing his chickens and that wildlife officers told him he had done nothing wrong. The sheriff's office says it cannot confirm that conversation and charged him after its own investigation. Fayetteville police had already referred the wildlife question to the state agency.

Brandon Terry Honea, 34, was booked into the Lincoln County Jail at 8:40 p.m. Wednesday on one count of aggravated cruelty to animals. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office made the arrest. He was still in custody early Thursday, and the jail record showed no bond amount.

Deputies opened the investigation after reports on Nov. 9. A video that circulated online appears to show him slamming an opossum against a porch during a livestream.

Honea, who works as a taxidermist, has said the animal was killing his chickens and that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency told him he had done nothing wrong. The sheriff's office said it cannot speak to what the agency told him. Deputies charged him on their own investigation. Fayetteville police said they referred the case to the wildlife agency because an opossum is Class II wildlife, and they called that agency the lead on the wildlife question.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.