A former Florida police officer has been arrested in connection with the death of his ex-girlfriend’s dog, a case that authorities say involves deliberate poisoning and has left the victim devastated.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that 22-year-old Edwin Campuzano turned himself in on January 16 after learning there was an active warrant for his arrest. Investigators said the warrant had been issued in December 2025. Campuzano, who is no longer employed in law enforcement, has been charged with aggravated cruelty to animals.
According to investigators, Campuzano is accused of poisoning a 3-year-old Maltese Poodle named Milo while his ex-girlfriend, Paula Fernandez, was away on vacation. Fernandez shared her account of the events during a press conference on Friday, January 23, describing the loss as traumatic and deeply painful.
“He would continuously tell me that he didn’t like Milo, but I didn’t think he would ever do something like that,” Fernandez said. Fernandez explained that she was traveling on May 30, 2025, when a neighbor who had been checking on Milo contacted her with alarming news.
“I’ll never forget that call. I’ll never forget that day,” she said. “I just felt my heart drop, and it just didn’t make sense because I made sure to say bye to him in the morning before our flight, and he was perfectly fine. He was happy.”
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When she returned home, the scene was not what she expected. “By the time we got back to the house, we came home to an empty house when we should’ve come home to Milo running up to us, greeting us,” Fernandez said. “In addition to that, there was blood on the floor, by the door, that we had to clean up because he [had been] vomiting.”
In the days that followed, Fernandez said Campuzano sent her flowers and condolences. At the time, she believed the gesture was genuine. “At that time, I thought it was a sweet gesture, but now to know that he’s the one responsible for Milo’s death is a pain that I can’t even describe,” she said.
Fernandez later reported her concerns to police and shared photos of small pellets she found in Milo’s food bowl. Investigators determined the substance was rodent poison. A necropsy confirmed that Milo died from poisoning.
Detectives also obtained Campuzano’s credit card records, which reportedly showed he purchased rodent poison from a Tractor Supply store two days before Milo was found dead. For Fernandez, the confirmation only deepened the grief. “He died a painful death and he died alone,” she said.
“I just hope that there’s some way we can get justice for Milo because he didn’t deserve this.” She added that the most frightening part of the experience was the lack of warning signs. “The scariest part to me with all of this is that there were no signs. [Campuzano] was well-liked, a completely sweet boyfriend to me.
We hardly argued. There were no signs other than that he didn’t like Milo, and I just figured that was because he wasn’t a dog person. He was a perfect boyfriend, that’s what makes this so much scarier.” At the time of Milo’s death, Campuzano was a full-time officer with the Bartow Police Department, but he is no longer employed there.
Sheriff Chad Chronister addressed the case in a statement, saying, “Those who wear the badge are held to a higher standard, and when someone falls short of that responsibility, it reflects a serious failure of the values we are sworn to uphold. This innocent animal deserved care and protection, and the trust placed in him as a partner makes this loss all the more senseless.”
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