Woman tortured animals, left prison and was found with 12 more in IN, feds say
An accused animal killer violated the terms of her prison release when she was found with 12 cats and dogs in a U-Haul and lied to get a missing dog online, according to officials.
Krystal Scott, 24, pleaded guilty to violating conditions of her previous supervised release and was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to an Aug. 4 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Attorney information for Scott was not available.
In 2021, Scott was sentenced to two and a half years in prison followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to animal crushing.
The sentencing came after Scott was accused of using an alias and claiming she intended to adopt cats and dogs to care for them, then torturing and killing them, officials said.
Scott posted videos of herself online “purposely crushing, suffocating, impaling, or otherwise subjecting the animals to serious bodily injury and death,” prosecutors said.
She was released from prison in June 2023, and part of her post-prison release terms required her to have no contact with animals.
However, on June 20, 2025, Indianapolis Animal Care Services responded to concerned citizens who said Scott was using a fake name responding to Facebook ads about reuniting lost pets with owners, officials said.
Scott responded to an ad about a missing dog and said it belonged to her or her family, then acquired the dog, prosecutors said.
“The individuals who posted the ad became suspicious and reached out to law enforcement. The dog Scott acquired via the online ad was not located,” officials said.
Then, witnesses reported finding a dead dog in a trash bag with its “stomach protruding from its body cavity” at the encampment where Scott was living, prosecutors said.
After investigating, the Indianapolis Animal Care Services found Scott was living in a U-Haul van with 12 dogs and cats that were malnourished, dehydrated and “living in excessive fecal matter,” according to officials.
“The officers also noticed the smell of a decomposing animal in the van, but no deceased animals were found,” prosecutors said.
Investigators searched Scott’s phone and found she had a Facebook account where she was a member of at least 12 pet adoption groups and was selling or trying to sell skin and fur from animals that she claimed were from exotic animals, according to prosecutors.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Woman tortured animals, left prison and was found with 12 more in IN, feds say."
