JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — *A previous version of this article contained the incorrect photo of the suspect.
Four children in Northwest Jacksonville waved a friendly neighbor down on May 11 to tell him, "The man with the blue truck beat a rooster with a steel pole and killed it."
That man with the blue truck, 54-year-old James Nix Jr., a resident of Peeples Lane, has since been charged with aggravated animal cruelty, police say.
Nix told deputies the rooster was an aggressive nuisance.
According to an arrest warrant, the kids pointed to a deceased rooster lying in a yard, and the incident was reported to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Animal Code Enforcement.
Witnesses say the rooster was a good rooster. No one ever saw the rooster attacking anyone. Two witnesses cried, according to police.
An investigation began, with the four main witnesses of Peeples Lane ranging in age between seven and 12-years-old.
Photos of the deceased bird were sent to police.
Officers knocked on Nix's padlocked door to no answer, stapling a notice-to-respond on his mailbox. A camper was nestled in his backyard.
Nix responded, stating, "The rooster has always been messing with me and running up on me. It scratched my Dad. It came after me."
On May 30, one citation was issued to Nix for cruelty to an animal, police said.
When asked what happened to the rooster, Nix told police, "The rooster disappeared because of him trying to attack."
The witnesses told police they saw Nix kill the bird.
Police informed Nix he would be cited for allowing the animal to suffer and not seek medical help.
Then Nix told officers, "The rooster walked away and fell into a ditch."
Witnesses said the rooster was in the road and not on Nix's property. And that Nix walked to the road, approaching the rooster with a steel pole in his hand, according to police.
"Nix struck the rooster in the head with the steel pole," witnesses said. "He picked up the rooster and carried it over to a ditch and covered the rooster with sticks."
Crying witnesses wanted to know, “Why the suspect was so mean? The rooster didn't attack him."
According to the mother of the witnesses, the rooster never attacked anyone.
