Ex-GOP counsel charged with animal cruelty

SIMPSONVILLE (AP) Police say the former head of South Carolina’s Republican Party told them he killed his mother’s dog because God told him to do so.

Simpsonville police officers tell news outlets that Todd Kincannon also said he was the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Authorities say the 37-year-old Kincannon was arrested last week after he choked, stabbed and mutilated his mother’s 10-year-old beagle mix at her Greenville county home. Kincannon told officers he killed the dog because “I’m the second coming of Christ and I got a command from God to do it.”

Police say Kincannon will be charged with animal cruelty after evaluation at a mental hospital. It wasn’t known if he had an attorney.

The Republican activist was general counsel and executive director for the state GOP in 2009.