Justin Teixeira and Eric Cuellar, the two UC Berkeley law students accused of beheading a rare bird and toying with the carcass one night in Las Vegas earlier this year, have been charged in what the Clark County District Attorney called "a pretty horrendous act."

For the alleged murder of the Helmeted Guineafowl — part of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino's Wildlife Habitat Attraction — 24-year-old Teixeira has been charged with felony killing and felony torturing of an animal. For his part in the 24-year-old Cuellar was hit with a misdemeanor charge of instigating, engaging in, or furthering an act of animal cruelty.

According to Las Vegas Metro PD, the two men were caught on camera chasing the bird (whose name was "Turk," by the way) into some trees in the Wildlife Habitat, which you can take a virtual tour of right here. Witnesses saw the two aspiring attorneys coming out of the foliage carrying the dead bird and its severed head.

With the felony charge, Teixiera could be facing prison time and the very likely prospect that he will disappoint his parents by never becoming a lawyer in the state of California. As the State Bar's website notes, convicted felons are "presumed not to be of good moral character in the absence of a pardon or a showing of overwhelming reform and rehabilitation." So, he might still stand a chance if he starts a helmeted guineafowl rescue center.

Cuellar's attorney, meanwhile, applauded his client's lesser charge, saying: "It's an acknowledgement that he did not physically harm the bird." But he did, you know, run around a zoo display like he owned the place — a point the District Attorney took offense to. As DA Steve Wolfson told the Associated Press, in the town where people are allowed to have tigers as pets and you can waterslide through shark pools, his office was "hoping we can send a message to people who visit that this is totally unacceptable."

Previously: Berkeley Law Students Accused Of Beheading Rare Bird In Las Vegas
[AP/NY Daily News]