MONTEVALLO, Alabama - The University of Montevallo today announced that authorities on Tuesday arrested the suspect in the investigation concerning three dead cats found on campus in October that had been killed in a potentially disturbing manner.

The suspect in the case is a University of Montevallo student who has been suspended from the institution, said director of university relations Jamie Bessette.

Shelby County Sheriff's Office jail inmate records show Christian Todd Slaton booked and released on Tuesday on four counts of first-degree animal cruelty, with a $5,000 bond posted on each count.

Bessette confirmed that Slaton was the arrested suspect.

Bessette said Slaton is no longer enrolled in the university. "He's not in school. He's prohibited from coming onto campus," he said.

The university in a three-sentence statement released this morning said authorities arrested and booked the suspect into Shelby County jail on Tuesday, and charges of cruelty to animals have been filed.

Bessette commended the University of Montevallo Police Department for its work in the case.

The university is "proud that the police department and Chief Chadd Adams and his officers did a great job in keeping the campus safe and secure and tracking this down. We're relieved this is behind us and can certainly start looking forward," he said.

The university's police department issued a crime alert Oct. 25 about the animal cruelty cases after the separate discoveries of three dead cats that had been killed.

Bessette last month said the discovery of the first dead cat happened on Oct. 16, with the second and third carcasses subsequently turning up a few days apart.

The locations were Flowerhill by the university's president's home, near a flag pole on the main quad and at the "Becoming" statue, said Bessette, who noted the cats "didn't die of natural causes."

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