Teen Accused Of Setting Grandfather's Dog On Fire 8:11 Am Options

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Teen accused of setting grandfather's dog on fire 8:11 AM

By MARIA KOTULA / WCNC
E-mail Maria: MKotula@WCNC.com

LANCASTER, S.C. -- A teenager is accused of terrorizing a Chihuahua before killing it. The crime has a grandfather seeking justice against his grandson.

Investigators said Scotty Steele tortured a little Chihuahua to death. They say he first beat the dog, shoved it into a plastic bag and then threw the dog against a building before setting it on fire. Scotty Steele now faces prison time.

The dog belonged to Scotty Steele’s grandfather Jimmy Steele.

“He was just as much a kid to me as he was a dog” said Jimmy Steele about the dog he is mourning over.

It's hard to even look at the barrel where Steele says his 1-year-old Chihuahua burned to death.

“He had a 55 gallon drum and he was already burning trash and burned up my d-a-m dog,” said Jimmy Steele.

His anger escalates because the man arrested and charged Wednesday is his 18-year-old grandson.

Lancaster sheriff's investigators said neighbors witnessed the teenager’s torture of the dog that same day back in March while his grandfather was in the hospital.

Lancaster Sheriff’s Department spokesman Tom Holland describes what they were told by saying, “Kind of like making a show of it, ended up slamming the dog into the ground, put the dog in a trash bag, and one of the witnesses said you could still see the bag moving in and out, so you could see he was still alive, put a pistol up to the dog.”

Jimmy Steele has no pictures of the dog, but describes what he will miss.

“Little rascal would look up at me with his ears sticking up."

Jimmy Steele said his dog was an energetic black Chihuahua.

“He'd be jumping up on the door waiting on me to get in the house … I loved him like he was my own, just like I did Scotty.”

His grandson is charged with felony ill treatment of an animal. Holland says the charge has a sentence range of six months to five years in prison.

When asked how he feels about his grandson facing prison time, Jimmy Steele said, “I think he needs the maximum sentence even if he is my grandson."

Jimmy Steele believes his grandson was mad at him for not leaving him money while Jimmy went into the hospital.