‘He showed no mercy’: Man pleads guilty to burning puppy alive on Facebook Live

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) — A man who prosecutors say livestreamed himself torturing and burning a puppy alive has pleaded guilty.

According to South Carolina authorities, Desmond Levon Brown, 29, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of animal crushing, a charge that includes burning, under the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.

His guilty plea is the first time anyone in South Carolina has been convicted under the law, which was passed in 2019.

Brown’s guilty plea stems from a December 2024 arrest by the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. He was taken into custody on charges that included ill-treatment of animals and second-degree domestic violence.

Federal law enforcement said they found a Facebook Live video Brown posted that showed him holding the puppy over a fire, before dropping the animal into the flames and repeatedly kicking it, burning the pup alive.

The dog belonged to a woman who had burned Brown’s clothes, according to the sheriff’s office.

Authorities said the puppy was found dead later in the woods near the home where he had burned the animal.

“I’ve seen some extremely despicable and disgusting things in my career, but this is one of the worst,” Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said at the time of the crime.

Investigators noted that Brown had also used a specific brand of rum as an accelerant for the fire that was imported from the Caribbean.

Transporting materials across international or state lines for use in a crime can place it under federal jurisdiction, authorities said.

According to prosecutors, Brown admitted to burning the puppy during a recorded jail call following his arrest.

“Brown’s gruesome torture of a puppy was heinous,” U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina said. “He showed no mercy in his crime, and we look forward to his sentencing.”

Brown faces up to seven years in federal prison as well as a fine of up to $250,000.

United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis accepted Brown’s guilty plea and is expected to hand down his sentence after further reviewing the case.