3 Charged In Kidnapping, Killing Of MD Man's Dog

SUITLAND, MD — Three people have been charged in the kidnapping and killing of a man's pet dog after he allegedly refused to let them use his vehicle.

Antwon Sockwell, 36, of Washington, D.C., Keith Packer, 35, of Suitland, and Tierra Love, 38, of Suitland, have been charged in a five-count indictment filed on Sept. 18 that was unsealed Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

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The indictment includes charges for animal crushing, conspiracy, interstate communications with the intent to extort, interstate stalking and the use or carrying of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

"These defendants terrorized the victim and took hostage and executed his innocent dog as part of a calculated scheme to extort him," Pirro said. "They conspired to intimidate and coerce the victim over a dispute involving a vehicle, and their actions culminated in the horrific execution of a defenseless husky."

The indictment alleges that Sockwell, Packer and Love conspired to coerce the victim to give his vehicle to Love and Packer by threatening the victim and his dog.

Court documents state that Packer and Love came up with the scheme in July after Love and the victim argued about Love's use of the victim's vehicle. They invited Sockwell to join in their plans to hurt the victim and his dog.

Packer and Love then stole the victim's pet Siberian husky from its home and took it back to D.C., and made threatening phone calls and sent similar text messages to the victim.

The trio showed up at the victim's Suitland home and confronted him. The victim still refused to lend them his vehicle because they hadn't returned his dog. The three suspects then returned to D.C., where one of them fatally shot the dog in the head in an alley.

Sockwell is currently detained pending trial. Packer is in custody in Maryland on state charges. If convicted, Sockwell and Packer face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for the firearm charge to run consecutively with any other sentence, up to seven years in prison for animal crushing and lesser penalties for the other offenses.

Law enforcement arrested Love on Thursday in Virginia. She made her initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. If convicted, Love faces a maximum statutory sentence of seven years in prison for animal crushing and lesser penalties for the other offenses.