Bill Hill, Dallas County District Attorney
Frank Crowley Courts Building
133 N. Industrial Blvd., LB 19
Dallas, Texas 75207-4399
ph: 214-653-3600; fax: 214-653-5774
Dear District Attorney Hill:
Please accept my comments regarding Deshawn Brown, the Dallas 21-year-old charged with animal cruelty for drenching his 10-month-old pit bull in gasoline and lighting her on fire on April 13, 2006. I implore the D.A.'s office to pursue maximum felony penalties of two to ten years in jail, plus fines of up to $10,000. I ask you to ensure Brown undergoes psychological counseling and is barred from possessing, harboring or living alongside animals in any context.
Brown poses a risk to both animals and humans. The dog, discovered near an apartment complex at Preston and Belt Line Roads, suffered burn wounds over 60% of her body. Most of her exterior skin layer was gone, replaced by slashes, stab marks, and burned flesh.
Dubbed "Mercy" by the Operation Kindness shelter workers in Carrollton who fought to save her, the little brown pit bull mix eventually succumbed to her injuries. While Brown initially claimed the dog "accidentally bumped [the] grill and ignited herself," witnesses relayed a different version of the events leading to her death. One woman told police and animal control officers that a failed attempt to mate Mercy with her dog resulted in Brown kicking his dog repetitively.
The concerned woman trailed Brown and noticed bloody gashes covering the dog. Another man witnessed Mercy, engulfed in flames, dashing through the apartment parking lot. He later saw Brown, gas can in hand.
Brown is a liar, admitting he fabricated the grill story in an April 17 interview with officials. Brown is a liar and a thug, claiming "two guys he owed money" burned Mercy in retaliation. But more importantly, Brown typifies sociopaths who view their victims as objects. They lack the empathy to see suffering or value in their victims.
Criminologists view the intensity of violent behavior (regardless of the victim's identity) as a precursor to future violence. In fact, the FBI red flags cruelty to animals when profiling murder suspects. Serial killers such as the Boston Strangler, Son of Sam, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy practiced on animals before graduating to humans. Dennis Rader, notorious for the Blind-Torture-Kill murders in Wichita, Kansas, confessed to strangling cats and dogs prior to his sadistic spree.
In addition, domestic battery studies show abusers commonly torment or kill companion animals. According to a MSPCA and Northeastern University survey, 70% of animal abusers accumulated one or more unrelated crimes and nearly 40% committed brutal crimes against people. Animal cruelty is also a key trait in the American Psychiatric Association's profile for conduct disorders.
Deshawn Brown exhibits no remorse for the torture of a defenseless dog. Thank you for recognizing the gravity of this crime and prosecuting this dangerous man to the fullest degree.
Sincerely,
