This story was updated on June 30 with additional information about Roberson's football career, and to note that police reported no marks or visible wounds found on the child who Roberson told police was attacked by the cat.

Dejion Marquel Roberson

A South Pittsburg man found dead in North Alabama was previously charged with animal cruelty after allegedly punting a cat "like a football."

Dejion "D.J." Roberson, 21, was found dead in an isolated area of County Road 208 in Bridgeport.

The sheriff's office determined the death was a homicide.

Roberson was arrested on Christmas Eve 2013 in McMinn County.

Several witnesses saw him carrying a cat by the neck and kicking it like a soccer ball, according to an incident report.

Roberson said the cat ran into his house and pounced on a small child.

Police asked to see the child in question and saw no marks or visible wounds.

The cat later died.

Roberson was a star football player for South Pittsburg, where he played on the offensive line. The six-foot-five, 315 pound blocker was recruited by both Middle Tennessee and UTC.

He was nominated as one of the Times Free Press's Dynamite Dozen area football players for 2011.