Deliberations To Continue: Twins Accused Of Setting Dog On Fire
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—A dog called Phoenix died five days after being set on fire. Prosecutors say two teenagers did it. Now their fate is in the hands of jurors.
Andrea Fujii explains where the case stands.
The jurors were ready to deliberate through the night, but the judge stopped them around 10 p.m. Thursday. They were together looking over evidence and testimony for more than nine hours in this high-profile case.
It's hard to forget those images of Phoenix the dog hours after someone set her on fire. She survived for just five days, after a city patrol officer covered the burning animal in a sweater. But that sweater and other key evidence in the abuse case are gone. That's one flaw in the city's case against the twin brothers, Travers and Tremayne Johnson.
Animal rights activists and many people in the city have emotionally invested themselves in this case.
"I'm afraid that they might walk, that they might get off," said Marilyn Hall, animal advocate. "The Baltimore City Police did not take this seriously, not until Phoenix's death."
Prosecutors showed a grainy video placing the twins at the scene, running away. But when jurors asked to review the same tape during deliberations, it took four hours to find a working player.
"I think this case is a learning case for the city of Baltimore," said Ann Gearhart, Synder Foundation for Animals. "I say that in terms of the citizens, in terms of them taking animal abuse seriously."
During the trial and Thursday's deliberations, the 19-year-old twins were surrounded by family and friends. Tremayne covered his face on the way out of the courtroom, while Travers—who is currently incarcerated—tried to spit at our cameras when he left court.
Travers is in jail on an attempted murder charge unrelated to this case. The twins' family said off-camera that they support them and do not believe that they are guilty. The case will continue Friday morning.
WJZ will continue to update you as soon as the jury reaches a decision.
