22-year-old Spring Hill man accepts plea in kitten killing case

Cayden Lemay, 22, of Spring Hill, accepted a plea agreement in February 2026 following his Dec. 8, 2025 arrest after prosecutors allege he killed his girlfriend’s kitten during a domestic dispute. The plea entry was reported in February; the public account of the case identifies Lemay, his age, the Dec. 8 arrest date, and the allegation involving the kitten.

Local accounts list the arrest and the February plea entry but do not identify the formal criminal charge or the specific offense to which Lemay pleaded. No plea terms, sentencing recommendation, presiding judge, or sentencing date were included in the available reports that first named Lemay and referenced the Dec. 8, 2025 incident in Spring Hill.

A social post linked to coverage from a regional news outlet referenced the Spring Hill arrest after a kitten was killed during a domestic incident, but the shared item provided no additional courtroom details beyond Lemay’s name, age, arrest date and the February plea notation. Law enforcement agency statements, booking records and the county charging documents were not included in those brief reports.

Hernando County’s court system recently handled several high-profile plea outcomes that underscore the range of dispositions local judges oversee. For example, Mario Diorio, 43, accepted a plea agreement on April 28, 2025 and was later sentenced by Circuit Judge Daniel Merritt Jr. to 20 years in the Florida Department of Corrections after pleading to second-degree murder and multiple drug charges tied to a Dec. 27, 2020 overdose; deputies had found 33.6 grams of fentanyl and 1.9 grams of cocaine in Diorio’s possession during his November 2022 arrest.

To clarify what Lemay’s plea means for penalties and any court supervision, the Hernando County court docket and the formal plea agreement will be the primary documents to review. The arrest report and probable cause affidavit for the Dec. 8, 2025 incident would provide details of the domestic dispute, who called law enforcement, and any statements taken at the scene. Animal control or veterinary records would confirm whether a necropsy was performed and whether the kitten had an identifying name or owner information listed by prosecutors.

The publicly reported facts remain limited to Cayden Lemay’s name, age, Spring Hill residence, the Dec. 8, 2025 arrest and the February 2026 plea agreement entry. A docket entry showing the plea filing and any scheduled sentencing hearing should appear in Hernando County court records and would identify the charge or charges resolved by the agreement.