Police say Bluffton woman beat ducks to death with tiki torch, charge her with cruelty
UPDATE: The charge against Quincy Martel, of Bluffton, was dismissed on July 8, 2021, nearly a year after she was charged, and later expunged from her record, according to court papers provided by Martel.
A Bluffton woman has been charged with animal cruelty after police said she beat two ducks to death with a tiki torch. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison, according to authorities.
Quincy Martel, 47, of Bluffton was charged Wednesday with one count of animal cruelty after police say she was caught on video killing two ducks at her home east of Hampton Lake last week, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Martel is accused of inflicting “repeated unnecessary pain and suffering by beating them to death with a tiki torch directly behind her residence, while on her property,” according to an arrest warrant.
The charge is a felony.
The neighbor who recorded Martel told a deputy she beat the ducks “until they stopped moving/making noise,” according to a Sheriff’s Office report.
He said he watched Martel put the ducks into a paper bag and “dispose” of them in the woods, the report said.
The birds were Muscovy ducks, according to S.C. Department of Natural Resources spokesperson David Lucas.
Lucas said the incident is being handled by local law enforcement because the ducks are domesticated birds and not protected.
The report said a sheriff’s deputy spoke to Martel on July 9, and she said she killed the ducks because she was tired of them pooping on her yard and driveway.
Martel also told the deputy the ducks were messing with her cats, according to the report.
Martel was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center on Wednesday morning and remained there Wednesday afternoon, according to detention center records.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 4:36 PM.
