Man who used hammer to beat turtle to death and claimed it was in self-defense, arrested for 'animal cruelty' & charged $5000

55 year old Terry Wayne Washington,
charged with a state jail felony for beating a
turtle to death with a hammer on June 21,
has claimed he killed the Turtle in 'self
defence'. Terry was charged on Tuesday with
'cruelty to a non-livestock animal' after a
Facebook video of the vicious attack made
its way to police.
"Share this video and get this man caught!”
court witness for the alleged 'murder case'
Geoffrey Frank posted underneath his video
of the incident.
“People like this make me sick to my
stomach! He just hooked the turtle, lured it
out of the water, and just nonchalantly
smashed it to death with a hammer.”
During a June outing to the Lady Bird Lake
Hike and Bike Trail in Texas, Terry hooked a
big catch and struggled to pull it out of the
water, but upon pulling out, it wasn't a fish
rather it was a 40 pound turtle.
When Terry saw the turtle, he picked it up
and smashed the head of the turtle over 10
times with a hammer despite pleas from
onlookers begging him to stop the 'cruel'
act.
An affidavit obtained by ABC showed
Washington claimed he killed the turtle after
it lunged at him and tried to bite him several
time.  Terry told the police he attacked the
creature out of self-defense and that he
wanted to get his fishing hook back.
Terry Wayne Washington’s bail for killing the
'innocent' Turtle was set at $5,000.
Source: ABC News/ NYdailyNews