Rochester couple looking for answers after home invaded, cat killed

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester couple is looking for answers after someone broke into their apartment, wrecked their belongings and killed their cat Thursday night.

"We’ve never been through anything like this," victim Kaylee Pearson said. "By far the worst night of my life."

Pearson’s partner, Gannon Smith, was at work and Pearson came home that night after hanging out with her family and noticed something was off with their apartment.

"Photographs, pictures, paintings, all over the floor. She put my figurines in the litter box," Pearson said.

Pearson and Smith got a confirmation from law enforcement on the woman found in their apartment.

36-year-old Angela Spears of Rochester appeared in Olmsted County District Court Friday on charges related to this incident. Spears is facing multiple felony charges, some of which include second-degree burglary, possession of burglary or theft tools, fifth-degree drug possession along with a misdemeanor fourth-degree intentional damage to property and a gross misdemeanor charge related to torturing an animal.

"It was bizarre because she didn’t touch anything valuable. She didn’t go after anything that has some transactional value to it. Nothing that could’ve made her money. She just ruined our apartment and killed our pet," Smith said.

The couple is trying to detect some motive but they can’t seem to wrap their heads around it.

"This person broke into my home and killed a family member and then just hung out and waited for us apparently. It looked like she was about to camp out on the porch," Smith said.

"Next to Joey, after what she did to him," Pearson added. "We weren’t even going to press charges until we found out that she killed him."

Smith and Pearson said Spears had drugs and paraphernalia on her along with what was described as a blow torch and a container of lighter fluid along with other items.

"That was the most bizarre is that she seemed like she was really making herself at home. Some of Kaylee’s clothes were out on the porch," Smith said.

These two are not the only victims over the past few years. Others have been reaching out to Pearson after she posted on social media after the incident.

"We got lucky in the worst way possible and something drew her attention to our apartment and that was all she needed to decide that she was going to derange our lives in this way," Smith said.

"There’s nothing to feel right now besides alternating between anger and anguish. She took our sense of security in our own home and she took our baby," Pearson said. "To take the life of a 10-pound cat? I can’t comprehend. I can’t comprehend what she did."

The couple has four other cats, but now they’re missing their brother, Joey.

"Hopefully our tragedy will prevent other people from having to experience being terrorized by this person," Pearson said.

They hope they can keep Spears from terrorizing the community further.