They sat in the courtroom, witnesses for Phoenix.
They wouldn't be called to testify in the trial of the twin brothers accused of setting fire to the pit bull that came to be given that hopeful name. But their presence, they said, served as testimony that the dog's life and her terrible death mattered.
"Phoenix needs a voice. She needs never to be forgotten because a life is a life," said Chris Lomagno, among the handful of animal lovers who are following the case as it unfolds in Baltimore Circuit Court.
"If this could be done to an animal — does it have to be done to a child for people to recognize it as an atrocity?"
Lomagno, a teacher who lives in Annapolis, described herself simply as "an animal person." Others watching the case are volunteers with groups such as the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, or BARCS, where the dog initially was taken after she was found burning on a West Baltimore street in May 2009.
They listened to occasionally excruciating testimony Friday, descriptions of a crime and its aftermath that brought at least one juror to tears. A police detective choked up recalling how she followed a plume of smoke to find a dog on fire; a veterinarian detailed both the dog's severe burns and the way she maintained her engaging, tail-wagging personality throughout an ordeal that ended when her kidneys failed and she was euthanized.
"It's absolutely horrific," said Shelley Donald, a makeup artist who lives in Baltimore County and volunteers for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It's very difficult to listen to."
She was among the many who contributed money for a reward to catch whoever burned Phoenix, a fund that grew to more than $25,000 as word of the attack spread nationwide. Defense lawyers said the fund did bring forth someone who will testify later in the trial.
Donald said the testimony was difficult enough to hear; she wouldn't look at the photos taken of Phoenix that were entered as evidence — images that Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill warned jurors would be graphic
Those in the courtroom were also warned that no outbursts would be allowed, and that they should leave the room if they felt overcome by emotion.
The animal advocates sat quietly through the proceedings, sometimes wincing at the testimony, but seemingly determined to see the trial through to its conclusion.
"I think myself and the other animal welfare folks are sort of Phoenix's family," Donald said. "Someone's got to stand up for the victim."
While defense lawyers said repeatedly that none of the evidence presented to date linked the suspects to the crime, the animal lovers say they want to make sure Phoenix's death does not go unpunished.
"I'd like to see justice served," said Carol Abrams, a BARCS volunteer who lives in Fells Point. "Hopefully, it will be."