Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Patrick Carmody | | Defense(s): | Christian J. Hoey | | Judge(s): | Robert L. Davis Jr. |
Mutilated dog found during drug raid
Coatesville, PA (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Nov 16, 2008
County: Chester
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» LaQuanta Chapman
» Bryan Byrd
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A weekend drug raid at a house in Coatesville turned grisly when detectives found the remains of a mutilated pit bull stuffed in a trash bag in the middle of the dining room.
LaQuanta Chapman, 29, allegedly told police that he had beaten the dog with a blunt object and cut off one of its legs, then, after it was dead, he and several others shot it multiple times with a .22-caliber gun.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Chapman said he then had cut the dog up with a chainsaw and put the remains in the trash bag.
He and Bryan Byrd, 19, of Newark, N.J., were arrested Saturday and charged with drug and weapons offenses along with killing and maiming a domestic animal.
A preliminary hearing scheduled for yesterday before Magisterial District Judge Robert L. Davis Jr. was postponed until Dec. 3 because defense lawyers were not available, Davis said.
But since both defendants were present, he said, he raised their bail from the $5,000 set by Magisterial District Judge Jeremy Blackburn on Saturday to $100,000 and ordered them sent to Chester County prison.
But outside court, Davis said, Chapman sat on a sidewalk, told officials he was in pain, and was taken to Brandywine Hospital for evaluation. Byrd was temporarily held at the Coatesville jail, Davis said.
The judge said he was "frightened" that Chapman apparently waived his Miranda rights and told police that he had killed and mutilated the dog. He said Chapman seemed to think such behavior was acceptable.
According to court records, Chapman has a long history of drug and weapons offenses. As a convicted felon, he is not allowed to own or possess firearms.
According to the affidavit, when police executed a search warrant Saturday at Chapman's residence on the first block of Chester Avenue, he was wearing a bulletproof vest and sitting on two loaded handguns.
In the same room they found two large bags, each containing "a substantial amount" of marijuana, according to the affidavit. A scale, other drug paraphernalia, and additional firearms were also in the house, police said.
The affidavit stated that Chapman also had told police that earlier in the week he killed another dog with a shovel and put it out in the garbage to be picked up by trash collectors.
Chuck McDevitt, a spokesman for the Chester County SPCA, said yesterday that humane-society officers had in the past found remains of mutilated animals that were used in fights or for religious purposes.
"What's unusual about this case is that one man admitted to it," he said.
SPCA officer Cheryl Shaw removed the remains of the dog, which she identified as a pit bull, and they are being examined for forensic evidence, McDevitt said. Shaw is expected to testify at the Dec. 3 hearing, he said.
Case UpdatesWill Chester County jurors look at LaQuanta Chapman and see Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick?
That is the stated concern of the attorney representing Chapman against charges that he murdered a Coatesville teenager then dismembered his body with a chainsaw, and it's the reason Chapman has asked that charges of cruelty to animals be separated from his upcoming homicide trial.
Authorities contend Chapman killed at least two dogs in the basement of his home in Coatesville, using a chainsaw to cover up DNA evidence of the death of 16-year-old Aaron Turner.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Chapman, 32. They allege Chapman shot and killed Turner because he be
lieved Turner was "ripping him off" in his drug trafficking operation.
The trial is not scheduled to begin until next year.
During a pretrial hearing Thursday, attorney Evan Kelly of West Chester, representing Chapman, asked Judge William Mahon to sever the animal cruelty charges from the homicide case against Chapman. He said that to include such testimony about alleged brutality against dogs would unfairly tarnish him in front of the jury.
"The public has a reaction towards these types of charges," Kelly argued, noting the situation surrounding Vick, the football star who was imprisoned in 2007 in a federal dog-fighting case in which dozens of pit bulls were killed. Public outcry against Vick, who admitted participating in the slaughter of six to eight dogs, was strong and continues to this day.
If the jurors hear testimony that Chapman killed two pit bulls in his home, disposing of the bodies in the trash, "he couldn't get a fair trial on the homicide charges" because of the jurors' reflexive prejudice about the animal cruelty charges, Kelly argued.
The lead prosecutor in the case told Mahon that the death and dismemberment of the dogs in Chapman's home is a central part of the case against him, not an unconnected crime.
Chapman killed the dogs specifically to cover up evidence of Turner's murder, First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody alleged at the hearing. And in a statement given to police after his arrest on gun and drug charges, Chapman described a situation in which he used a chainsaw to cut up one of two dogs he killed.
"We believe that what he said he did to the second dog is what he did to Aaron Turner," Carmody told Mahon. "The crimes are intricately related. I don't see how he takes them out."
Chapman disappeared in late October 2008, leaving home to walk to a community service project in Coatesville. Police believe he was shot and killed in the basement of Chapman's home on Chester Avenue. His body has never been found.
According to court records, a witness said Chapman, also known as "Quan" was angry with Turner, known as "Head," because he thought Turner was stealing drug business from him. The witness said that during a confrontation between the two, Chapman drew a gun on Turner and pulled him into his basement.
There, he made Turner strip to his underwear then shot him. The witness said Chapman and his nephew, Bryan Byrd, then used a chainsaw to cut up his body and dispose of it in garbage bags.
In his argument for severance, Kelly said there had been two instances when Chapman is alleged to have killed put bulls he owned. The first involved a dog he struck with a chainsaw and whose body was found in a trashcan outside the house when Chapman was arrested on Nov. 15, 2008. The second was a female put bull, Mimi, who had delivered a litter of puppies. Chapman had struck Mimi with a pipe then shot the dog 11 times in a fit of anger, Kelly said.
Kelly said the dogs had been killed in the weeks following the date when Turner is alleged to have been killed.
At the hearing, Chester County Detective Kevin Dykes testified that he had interviewed Chapman in November 2008 and that Chapman had told him about the death of the dogs. Chapman said he had dismembered the second dog, Mimi, with two chainsaws, a smaller one and a larger one, that he had in the house.
"Is that consistent with the dismemberment of Aaron Turner" described by other witnesses? Carmody asked Dykes.
"Yes," the detective responded.
Mahon did not rule on Kelly's request, taking it under advisement. | Source: dailylocal.com - Nov 13, 2011
Update posted on Nov 13, 2011 - 8:23PM |
A Coatesville man arrested after police found a mutilated pit bull in his dining room during a drug raid told police he had killed and dismembered two dogs, a detective testified yesterday.
The testimony came during a 21/2-hour preliminary hearing for LaQuanta Chapman, 29, who was held for trial on all charges. His codefendant, Bryan Byrd, 19, of Newark, N.J., waived his hearing.
Both men will face trial on conspiracy, drug, and weapons offenses. Chapman also faces charges related to abusing and killing animals.
Coatesville Detective Sgt. Chris McEvoy said that when police executed a search warrant on Nov. 15 at Chapman's Chester Avenue home illicit drugs "were pretty much in every room" and Chapman was carrying two loaded guns and wearing body armor.
"What we have in this case is a house of crime: a house full of drugs, a house full of guns," said First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody.
McEvoy testified that Chapman told him he killed the first dog because of "poor performance" in the dogfights he held in his garage, and the second slaying occurred because the dog had smothered some of its own puppies.
Defense attorney Christian J. Hoey said his client's description of clubbing, chainsawing, and shooting a dog highlighted his mental impairment. After the hearing, Hoey said he would seek to have Chapman committed to Norristown State Hospital.
"There's no evidence at all that shows any mental illness that would excuse him from culpability for these crimes," Carmody said, adding that Chapman was evaluated at Chester County prison. | Source: Philly.Com - Dec 18, 2008
Update posted on Dec 19, 2008 - 10:09AM |
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