A South Charleston man who police said decapitated his pet cat with a machete and stored animal body parts in jars in his home has pleaded guilty to a single count of animal cruelty.

Prosecutors said Gabriel Kekel pleaded guilty to the charge Monday before Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Carrie Webster.

Kekel's plea was without a plea agreement. He faces five years in prison when he is sentenced to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 11. Kekel must have a psychological evaluation before he is sentenced.

In July 2021, Kekel was arrested after South Charleston police responded to his home for a well-being check. He was initially taken to Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital for evaluation, according to court records, but then left the hospital against medical advice. Police said they obtained a warrant for his arrest and found him at the Sheetz in South Charleston.

In a search warrant affidavit, police noted that they had received a complaint that Kekel had recently killed and dismembered his cat and made statements that he wanted to hurt other animals.

Police said Kekel was outside when they got to his home and told them he knew he "would be indicted" but continued to tell them that he overdosed his cat using Benadryl tablets by pushing them down the cat's throat. Police said Kekel also told them that when he knew the cat was dead, he cut the animal's head off with a machete.

Police said Kekel allowed them into his home and pulled down a ladder to the attic and brought down three jars that contained a cat's head, a bird skull and a squirrel's leg, along with other animal bones.

The search warrant said that Kekel then told police that he fantasized about hurting "bad" people and, if given the opportunity, he would use his stun gun and a paracord that he had on him to strangle the person. In another interview at the police station after his arrest, police said he again described how he killed the cat and said he had killed and dissected several other animals, which gave him an adrenaline rush.

"Kekel also spoke about his fantasies of killing people and went into specific detail about how he would use a stun gun and make sure the person would not scream and then use the paracord to strangle the person," police wrote. "Kekel then stated he would dismember the torso and use the skull for DIY projects."