CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #13848 Rating: 2.9 out of 5
Dog doused with gasoline, set on fire
Chicago, IL (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Aug 31, 2006
County: Lake
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Anthony Peebles
Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray sentenced an 18-year-old East Chicago man to nine years in prison for robbery and setting a dog on fire in a public park.
"I believe at this time you are a danger to society," Murray told Anthony Peebles. "You need a major time-out that only prison can provide."
Peebles was 16 on Aug. 31, 2006, when he doused a pit bull with gasoline and set it on fire at Kosciusko Park in East Chicago.
Peebles was with two other youths when he committed the crime. The dog died from the extensive burns.
On Sept. 1, while he was free on bond and had pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and criminal recklessness in the dog arson case, Peebles robbed the Baring Supermarket in East Chicago with a handgun. Defense attorney Adam Tavitas called to the witness stand Rosemary Stewart, Peebles' grandmother who adopted him and his brother.
Peebles' father has been incarcerated off and on and his mother is ill and her whereabouts are unknown.
Stewart said the crimes were totally out of character for Peebles. While he was in foster care his foster parent tried to drown him, Stewart said, prompting years of therapy.
Deputy Prosecutor Jamise Perkins argued for a lengthy sentence, noting the troubling nature of the cases and the lengths his family went to get him help.
Murray agreed, calling the animal cruelty case the worst he's seen in his years on the bench. Murray also imposed a probationary term of 3 1/2 years and 100 hours of community service at an animal shelter under supervision. References
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