Lonnie A. Ray of Darlington County, S.C., had actually reproduced and offered dogs for a while, and he understood what safety preventative measures to take when setting up a sale, according to Daniel Simon, the constable of Lee County.
On Monday night, Sheriff Simon said, Mr. Ray, 76, brought a friend along for the organized sale of a French bulldog for $2,500, which was to occur at a public area — the car park of a KFC in Bishopville, S.C.
But the sale, which was prepared online, never ever took place. Instead of experiencing a purchaser, Mr. Ray was assaulted by 3 or 4 individuals and contended least 3 times, the constable said. They likewise took the dog, a puppy. Mr. Ray passed away an hour later on at Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville, S.C.
“He’s a cancer survivor, he’s been in the Vietnam War. He survived that,” Sheriff Simon said. “He thought that he was just going to make a sale of a dog. He not only loses the French bulldog, but he lost his life in the process.”
The aggressors likewise contended Mr. Ray’s friend, a 77-year-old male, however he was unscathed. The 3 or 4 assailants were still at big on Wednesday night, and the dog was still missing out on.
“We consider them armed and dangerous,” the constable said. “It’s uncalled-for. It’s just senseless and heartless.”
The brazen and fatal break-in was especially unexpected as Lee County, a calm neighborhood of about 16,000 people with producing plants and farming location about 50 miles from Columbia, S.C., typically has just about 3 to 5 murders a year, the constable said.
French bulldogs have actually turned into one of the most costly dog types in the United States, with rates often reaching $6,000 for a puppy. And individuals who have actually them have progressively been the victims of gunpoint break-in in locations consisting of Miami, New York, Chicago, Houston and throughout California.
In 2021, Lady Gaga’s dog walker was choked and shot throughout a break-in of 2 of the vocalist’s French bulldogs in Los Angeles. The shooter was sentenced to 21 years in jail.
Video video from an electronic camera at the KFC, which is along Interstate 20, did not catch the shooting, Sheriff Simon said. The constable’s workplace is cleaning up spotty video from a security electronic camera at a close-by corner store.
The assailants will possibly deal with charges consisting of murder, tried murder, grand larceny and ownership of a weapon throughout a violent criminal offense, Sheriff Simon said.
Mr. Ray, who was retired, was a dog fan who took good care of the animals he reproduced, which utilized to consist of hunting dogs in addition to the French bulldogs, the constable said. He was the dad of 2 boys and 2 children, he said.
Mr. Ray would offer his French bulldogs when they were in between 6- and 12-weeks old, Sheriff Simon said.
An autopsy will be carried out on Mr. Ray on Friday early morning, said Larry Logan, the Lee County coroner, including that authorities will then have the ability to verify the number of times he was shot.
Mr. Logan said that when he was contacted us to the health center on Monday night, he right away acknowledged Mr. Ray. The 2 utilized to hunt raccoons together more than thirty years earlier.
“Lonnie was a good fellow,” he said.
