Even as the trial of the twin teens charged with setting the dog Phoenix on fire moves forward, police announce the arrests of two more teens who they say doused a cat Mittens with lighter fluid and set it ablaze.
These twin cases of animal cruelty are just the latest in Baltimore, and demonstrate another side to the city's violence. The Phoenix (seen at left) case in West Baltimore broke in 2009, and it has lurched forward under pressure from the public and City Hall.
And testimony coming out of Baltimore Circuit Court is not that encouraging. The Sun's Tricia Bishop has written about questionable police actions that have prompted defense attorneys to accuse the cops of negligence.
The officer who was hailed as a hero for putting the fire out had a rough day in court last week. Tricia Bishop wrote that Detective Syreeta Teel "left the sweater, which might have provided traces of accelerant, on the sidewalk." Also, testimony revealed that the scene was never secured, the police crime lab was never called and a treating veterinarian was never interviewed in the arson investigation.
Then, on Tuesday, defense attorneys questioned the motives of a key witness who said she saw the defendants -- Travers and Tremayne Johnson -- running away from the scene. The witness, who is jailed on an unrelated charged, said she came forward for the reward money -- $28,000 put up by hundreds of outraged citizens.
Tricia provided this time-line, taken from video surveillance:
11:50:56 a.m.: A man hands over Phoenix by leash to two males, identified as Travers and Tremayne Johnson by Baltimore Police Sgt. Jarron Jackson.
11:51:06: The male identified by police as Travers kicks the dog.
11:51:50: The two males and the dog walk down Presbury Street toward an alley.
11:57:14: Witness Tiera Goodman stands in street near convenience store.
11:58:03: Two males, identified by Goodman as the Johnson brothers, run from the direction of the alley.
11:58:09: First view of Phoenix on fire, near the mouth of the alley, which is obscured by bushes.
11:59:11: Officer Syreeta Teel uses her sweater to smother Phoenix's flames.
12:00:01: A male identified by Jackson as Tremayne appears to check out the situation and quickly leaves, turning to face the surveillance cameras, which capture a close-up.