Man receives prison sentence for burning puppy alive

An Orangeburg man who killed a puppy by setting it on fire in a livestreamed Facebook video will spend five years in federal prison, prosecutors announced last week, marking South Carolina’s first prosecution under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.

U.S. Attorney Bryan P. Stirling’s office announced 30-year-old Desmond Levon Brown’s sentence on Thursday, Oct. 15. Brown was convicted of animal crushing, an offense that includes burning.

“Brown’s actions were cruel, heinous and depraved,” said Stirling, the U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with law enforcement to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty in South Carolina.”

The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office received reports of a Facebook Live video showing Brown throwing a puppy into a fire on Dec. 18, 2024. Deputies discovered the deceased puppy in a wooded area near the place where the video was filmed.

“This puppy could neither fend for itself nor find a way out of this horrific torture because it was thrown into the fire over and over," Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said in a news release. "Hopefully, this sentence will give Brown enough time to realize what he has done, and it weighs on his heart for the rest of his days.”

Federal law enforcement officials obtained the Facebook video, which showed Brown holding the puppy above the fire, dropping it into the fire and repeatedly kicking the puppy into the fire every time it tried to escape, burning it alive.

After his arrest, prosecutors say, Brown was recorded on jail calls admitting to burning the puppy.

“This was an awful act of animal cruelty that deserves accountability,” said Alicia Jones, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “No animal should ever have to experience such terrible abuse, and those who commit reprehensible acts of violence like this will be brought to justice.”

U.S. District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sentenced Brown to 60 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  As a condition of his supervised release, Brown is prohibited from owning or possessing any animal. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the ATF and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elle E. Klein prosecuted the case.

Citizens can report suspected animal abuse to local law enforcement, the Department of Justice or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.