DESOTO COUNTY, Fla. — The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office arrested two men after a bizarre incident that ended with a dead cow. Deputies said two Charlotte County men walked onto a farm outside Arcadia and shot a cow in the head.
“It was cruel, what they did," said Rylee Butler, whose family owned the cow. "And I don’t think it’s whatsoever right.”
WATCH: Family reacts after cow is killed:
Deputies arrested 21-year-old Matthew Robert Wright and 20-year-old Gavin Hunter McMillan. Both are charged with armed trespass and aggravated animal cruelty, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Butler family raises cattle and horses northwest of Arcadia. Rylee and her father, Thomas, spoke with Fox 4 about the shooting on Friday.
Thomas found one man standing by the dead cow in the pasture, according to an arrest report. Another man was by a beige pickup truck just outside the cattle gate.
The man inside the pasture held up the head of a heifer cow, according to the report, and said "someone shot this cow."
"Butler then asked him where they were going, and he was told they were going to school and that they had to go," the report said. "Butler advised they were going nowhere and contacted the Sheriff's Office to report the incident."
Thomas told Fox 4 he called the Sheriff's Office non-emergency line. Then he called DeSoto County Sheriff James Potter, who lives just down the road.
Butler was there with Carl Pickle, according to the arrest report. Butler owns the cattle and Pickle owns the land. Pickle told deputies the men jumped a barbwire fence to get onto the property.
Deputies said they found a "deceased light-colored Heffer cow" after they arrived. Heifers are young female cattle.
"The cow had an obvious head wound which was consistent with a gunshot to the head," the arrest report said.
“I honestly thought he was joking," Rylee said. "Like I didn’t think it was for real.”
Deputies questioned Wright and McMillan after they arrived. Wright said he had a 9MM Glock handgun concealed in his pants, which deputies removed.
Wright kept changing his story, according to the arrest report, before he eventually admitted to shooting the cow with his rifle. Deputies asked Wright what he planned to do with the animal.
"He advised me he was going to do nothing with it," the report said.
McMillan allowed deputies to search his car, according to the report. Deputies said they found several grams of marijuana and a grinder.
McMillan told deputies he was driving Wright to a friends house in Ona, according to the report. That's when they stopped, and Wright shot the cow.
Fox 4 reached out to the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office for comment. A spokesperson said no one was available for an interview.
"Cattle operations are an important livelihood for many families here in DeSoto County and across our state," the Sheriff's Office said on Facebook. "Sheriff Potter is thankful for the concerned citizens and the Deputies who investigated this senseless crime."
Thomas told Fox 4 he knows McMillan's father. Thomas said McMillan is a good kid who got mixed up in the wrong crowd. The 20-year-old is now working for the Butler family to cover part of the animal's cost.
Rylee told Fox 4 the heifer could have been worth around $45,000.
“You weren’t going to take it for the meat, you know? What was the purpose of it?" Rylee said. "It was just like a vindictive kind of act, you know?”
