A man who threw a dog off a bridge twice in Spartanburg County on Oct. 3, claimed that “witches” had told him to get rid of the dog by tossing it over the bridge located in Highway 11 in the Fingerville area. The owner of the dog, identified as 43-year-old Shannon Lee Cantrell admitted to officers that it was the second time he had done this to his pet.
Warning: Distressing content
According to WLTX, county officers were called to respond to a report about a man throwing a dog down the said bridge. The Environmental Enforcement Officers arrived at the scene and spotted Cantrell holding the dog in a chokehold. The officers were able to secure the animal and managed to release ownership of the dog to Spartanburg County from Cantrell. Based on reports, the canine is said to be okay and appeared to suffer from just a wet fur coat from being tossed down the water below the bridge, which is said to measure some 34 feet from the ground up. The one-year-old dog seemed fine although it was clearly shaken from the ordeal. It was taken to Greenville County Animal Care for further assessment.
Meanwhile, officers apprehended Cantrell under an arrest warrant relating to state statute 47-1-40(B), which states that any person found guilty of said felony charges will be imprisoned for not less than 180 days but not exceeding five years. Those convicted are also ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. Cantrell is faced with a code enforcement violation for his ill-treatment of an animal alongside charges of animal cruelty. He was taken to the Spartanburg County Detention Center and will remain in custody under a $5,000 bond.
In a separate incident in Charleston, South Carolina, a judge rejected the appeal of Dylann Roof who challenged the court on how it should handle disputes regarding mental-illness-related evidence of capital defendants. Roof initially fired his legal team and opted to represent himself in court. His move successfully kept jurors from hearing evidence about his mental health “under the delusion” that he could be rescued from prison by White supremacists. However, the panel of appellate judges upheld his conviction and death sentence,
Roof was responsible for the ghastly murders of nine people at a historical Black church of Mother Emanual AME back in June 2015. During his sentencing in 2017, he notably did not ask forgiveness for his crime saying that the prosecution had no idea “what real hatred looks like”.
“I felt like I had to do it and I still feel like I had to do it,” Roof told the jury in his closing statement.
