A South Beach hotel clerk accused of killing Strushie, a popular Miami Beach neighborhood cat, was deported before the start of his trial.
Georgios Kollias, 37, was deported on Nov. 29, after being taken by immigration officials from a Miami-Dade jail just 12 days after he was arrested in July.
After spending four months in a federal detention center, he was put on a plane to his native Greece.
“A lot of citizens were very concerned about this case,” said Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Kathleen Hoague, according to a report by the Miami Herald. “We were looking forward to proving this case – and we had good evidence against him.”
Lollias was accused of shooting arrows into Strushie outside the Franklin Hotel at 860 Collins Avenue. He pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty and tampering with evidence charges.
The cat was later found with arrows in its head and neck, and was taken to a local vet where he had to be euthanized. Officials obtained surveillance video from outside the hotel, which they say was deleted from the time of the alleged incident.
Lollias later admitted to detectives that he did shoot the cat, police said.
The killing of Strushie sparked outrage in the animal rights community and a reward for an arrest in the case reached $27,000.