A Bronx teenager is accused of burning a kitten to death in an oven, in what investigators believe was an act of revenge.

Humane Law Enforcement agents of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals say Cheyenne Cherry, 17, burned her ex-roommate's kitten to death in an oven. Following her arrest, ASPCA agents say Cherry brushed off the incident as a joke.  "I hate cats," Cherry allegedly told investigators when asked about the heartless crime.

According to officials, Cherry and an unidentified juvenile allegedly broke into Valerie Hernandez's Tinton Avenue apartment on May 6 and trashed the place. They then tossed the woman's two month-old kitten, Tiger Lily, into the oven and cranked up the temperature, ASPCA assistant director Joe Pentangelo said.

  (Photo courtesy of WPIX) Cherry told authorities that she and her accomplice "thought we would play a joke on Valerie and mess up her apartment."

Pentangelo says the suspect and the accomplice left the apartment as the cat cried and scratched at the oven door.

  (Photo courtesy of WPIX)  Firefighters found the female cat's remains smoldering in the oven after neighbors complained of smoke coming from Hernandez's apartment.

Cherry and her accomplice also allegedly slashed Hernandez's furniture, unscrewed light bulbs and threw bleach on the walls, officials said.

Pentangelo said the kitten was burned so badly a necropsy had to be performed to determine its sex.

Cherry was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, burglary, arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. She was released into the custody of her mother. The unidentified juvenile involved in the incident has not been arrested.

Update 6/6/09:  Cherry was busted last year in the armed dognapping of a teacup Yorkie, police said.

Cherry's boyfriend snatched the pooch from a woman in a Bronx park last June after holding a BB gun to her forehead, police said.

  (Photo's courtesy of NY Daily News)  

Days later, Cherry, 16, had the nerve to send friends to show up with the dog when a $500 reward was posted. "She's evil," Johan Castro, 23, the dogs owner said.

Despite her June 2008 arrest for larceny and extortion, along with two other busts, Cherry was released without bail after being charged with letting a friend's kitten die inside a 200-degree oven.

"They wonder why this little girl doesn't learn right from wrong," Castro said. "If she's willing to kill a cat and steal my dog, what else will she do? She thinks she can beat the system."

Cherry also had a 2007 arrest for smacking a girl in the head with jewelry, police said.

Cherry, now charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, arson, burglary and criminal mischief, is a dog owner who loves pets, her brother insisted.  "My sister is no cat killer," said David Cherry. "Cheyenne is not an animal hater. She has a little Yorkie that she loves."

In a cruel twist to the case, a Brooklyn retiree who shares a last name with Cherry is getting threats after someone mistakenly listed her number on a web posting about the cat slaying.  "They're all saying, 'You'll burn in hell,' 'Who the hell do you think you are?'" Bernadette Cherry, 72, said of the 75 calls from cat lovers.

Update 6/18/09:  A second teenager has been charged in burning a kitten to death in an oven in the Bronx according to New York City police.

The 14-year-old girl was arrested for burning the two-month-old kitten to death in what investigators believe was an act of revenge.

The 14-year-old was charged with aggravated animal cruelty and burglary.

Update 7/16/09:  A teenager accused of killing a kitten by baking it to death in an oven at 500-degrees, apparently isn't shedding any tears over the incident, as she hissed nasty remarks at animal rights activists as she made her way inside court.

Witnesses say an unsympathetic Cherry, yelled "It's dead, bitch!" to the activists and while inside court, stuck her tongue out at the judge after she was sentenced to a year behind bars for the killing of Tiger Lily inside her former roommate's apartment.

Cherry, who is charged with animal cruelty and attempted burglary, killed the cat inside Valerie Hernandez's apartment while a 14-year-old friend trashed the home, breaking furniture and swiping DVDs and food, police said. While in police custody, she told authorities the cat killing was "just a joke."

In court, Cherry admitted to a judge that her 14-year-old friend put the cat in the oven, but she was the one who wouldn't let it out. The younger girl will be facing trial in Family Court.

    (Photo's taken from Cherry's Myspace page)

  A dozen animal lovers attended the hearing, just a fraction of the reported 20,000 of whom signed an online petition supporting harsh punishment for Cherry. As the so-called 'Kitty Killer' emerged from court, many people cheered saying they were grateful that Cherry would be spending a year behind bars for the heartless killing she seems to have no shame for.

Update 8/11/09:  A 14-year-old has pleaded guilty to burglary and animal cruelty for killing a kitten in a 500-degree oven.

The New York City Law Department says the girl will spend 18 months in juvenile jail.

Update 11/3/09:  A judge tossed a one-year prison deal offered to Cherry.

Judge Margaret Clancy, who had earlier approved the plea deal, said "nobody realized" at the time that reducing a violent felony charge to a nonviolent charge was illegal.

Prosecutors in July let Cherry plead guilty to attempted burglary and animal cruelty after investigators said her 14-year-old accomplice was the one who put the helpless Tiger Lily in the oven.

The judge now says Cherry could plead guilty to a reduced charge and still be sentenced to a year in prison.

But Bronx prosecutors quickly pounced on the legal snafu to offer Cherry two years behind bars in exchange for a guilty plea.

That prompted Cherry's lawyer, Danielle Follett, to accuse the prosecution of playing to animal-rights activists gathered in the courthouse.  "They are succumbing to public pressure," Follett said.

Cherry is due back in court on Dec. 2.

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