By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A Pawnee County teenager accused of shooting and killing 10 livestock animals between April 11 and April 14 in Payne County has been ordered to appear in court here on Dec. 9 with an attorney on an 11-count charge.
Caden Levi Rudd, 18, of Terlton, who remains free on $50,000 bond, has also been accused of conspiring with an unnamed juvenile to commit the crime of animal cruelty on April 11.
If convicted of 10 counts of animal cruelty and one count of conspiracy to commit a felony, Rudd could be given up to 60 years in prison plus $55,000 in fines, according to court documents filed by Payne County First Assistant District Attorney J.R. Kalka.
The shootings of three goats, five cows and two calves had been reported to the Payne County Sheriff’s Office last April, according to an affidavit by Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers.
When the juvenile was interviewed on April 14 at his residence with his parents present, he admitted to shooting a goat in rural Yale on April 12 by using a .22 rifle with a camo stock belonging to Rudd’s relative, the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
The sheriff’s investigator alleged in his affidavit that the juvenile “stated Caden drove the truck and encouraged him to shoot, stopping the vehicle for the act. He initially denied shooting any cows but later admitted to lying.
“On April 15, 2025, he provided a written statement admitting he and Caden shot a red cow, and Caden shot three cows (one white, two black) and attempted to shoot another near Quay. He also admitted to shooting two turkeys.
“On April 15, 2025, (a witness) reported to Deputy Bloomer that she saw a truck drive by and heard gunshots in the area of Battle Ridge and McElroy on Thursday, 4/10/2025. (She) noticed dead cattle the next day in the area of Mt. Vernon and Airport Road and began to see Facebook posts about the incident.
“She thought what she was reading on Facebook and what she had seen were connected. (She) stated that she went back and reviewed the camera footage and was able to catch the truck on camera. (She) said when she slowed down the camera footage, she was able to tell a young man was hanging out the window of the truck.
“She sent me (the investigator) a copy of the video and a screenshot of the vehicle. The video shows a silver or light blue truck with blacked-out wheels driving down a dirt road, with an individual propping themselves out of the window.”
The investigator alleged in his affidavit that when he went to the defendant’s residence on April 18, “Caden declined an interview without his attorney present. I told (his relative) that I was also there to search Caden’s truck and recover the firearms used in the shootings. (The relative) voluntarily turned over a New England Firearms .243 rifle and a Savage Arms .22 rifle. A search of Caden’s truck revealed multiple spent .22 casings and 12-gauge shotgun shells.
“On April 21, 2025, I collected a Ruger 10/22 .22 caliber carbine and a Mossberg 835 12-gauge shotgun from the juvenile’s relative. On April 28, 2025, the spent casings and shotshells from the scene of the animal shootings, the spent shell casings found in Caden’s truck, and the firearms seized from Caden and (the juvenile) were submitted to the OSBI Forensic Laboratory in Edmond for ballistics examinations. On June 18, 2025, I received the OSBI ballistics report.
“On July 29, 2025, at about 8:30 am, I interviewed (the juvenile) over the telephone with the permission of his parents. He denied being with Caden on April 10, 2025. I inquired about the goats that had been shot at the corner of Lakeview and Fairgrounds. He told me that Caden shot them, and Caden was the only one that shot at them.
“I asked him about the turkey that was killed. He said that they both killed a turkey that day. He said that he (the juvenile) tagged his and Caden did not tag the one he killed. He said that the turkeys were thrown out of the truck after the beards were removed.
“I asked him to clarify what he put in his written statement. I told him that he wrote that he (the juvenile) killed a red cow and then Caden killed three cows, a white one and two black ones, and that he wrote in there a black one. I asked him if that meant an additional black one. I told him that would be five cows, total. He told me that it was five or six cows.
“I told him that every location had his .22 casings or shotgun shells. He said that only Caden’s .22 was used. I told him that is not what the ballistics report tells us. He said that he only remembers Caden shooting his .22 at Caden’s house. I told him there were eleven .22 casings from his gun at the McElroy and Battle Ridge location.
“I explained to him that we have all four guns at all of the scenes. He told me that he was shooting at birds with his shotgun, and there was one spot that they tried sighting in his .22. I contacted Oklahoma Game Warden Emily Long and asked her to check their records for (the juvenile) and Caden for the time frame the turkeys were shot.
“She told me that (the juvenile) checked in a male turkey on 4/12/2025 at 12:10 pm that had a beard longer than 6”. The record showed that he reported it was harvested on private land in Payne County. It showed the method of harvest was archery, and it was during regular open season. Their records did not show that Caden had a hunting license, and no animals had been checked in. Spring youth turkey hunting season was April 12-13, 2025. Regular season was April 15 through May 16, 2025.
“Although there is no direct evidence showing an explicit agreement between Caden and (the juvenile), their coordinated actions and the circumstances in totality show that they had an agreement to commit the acts outlined in this affidavit,” the investigator alleged.
