Indictment shows NC man gloating over dogs fighting: ‘Hit like Mack trucks head on’
In January, Laddie McMillian sent a morning-after message to an associate, describing the layers of violence from a dogfight matching his pit bull, Slick Rick, against his cousin’s.
“23 mins, curred him out,” McMillian bragged, according to a new federal court filing. “Slick was getting ready to do him in and my cousin stopped it for whatever reason, just put a bullet in his head.”
On Wednesday, it was McMillian’s turn in the ring. He and his reported business partner Derrick Twitty were named in a 12-count federal indictment accusing them of multiple dogfighting crimes.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville claim in their new filing that Twitty, 47, of Columbus, and McMillian, a 46-year-old Tryon resident, bred, trained and pitted dogs in deadly fights for thousands of dollars in bets. The two are scheduled to make their first appearances in Asheville federal court later this month.
McMillian’s attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Fredilyn Sison declined comment in a Thursday email to The Charlotte Observer. No lawyer was listed for Twitty in the documents for his case.
Their nine-page indictment casts new light on the shadowy and violent world of dogfighting, which is illegal in every state but still draws tens of thousands of U.S. participants from rural and urban areas alike. Although exact numbers are elusive, multiple sources estimate that the blood sport claims the lives of upwards of 16,000 dogs each year.
In May, a Gastonia man was charged with 60 felonies after Gaston County Police raided what appeared to be a dogfighting operation outside his home, the Observer previously reported. Some 30 dogs were seized.
In November, a federal judge sent a Concord man to prison for six years on dogfighting and weapons charges. According to prosecutors, most of Delontay Moore’s dogs were in “dire condition,” from severe scarring, and untreated and infected bite wounds to broken bones, internal injuries and infected ears that had been improperly cropped.
“The intentional infliction of pain and suffering on animals for sport is unfathomable,” Jason Williams, a special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General, said in a statement following Moore’s sentencing.
Dogfighting language
This new indictment alleges illegal dogfighting activity by McMillian and Twitty dating back five years, most of it in Polk County, about 85 miles west of Charlotte. The two are partners in Mass Destruction Kennels. On occasion, according to the filing, they also spoke about the savagery of the fights with a certain glee, using a distinctive lexicon.
A “roll,” for example, is a brief match testing a dog’s fighting ability.
A “scratch” refers to a dog crossing the fighting pit and locking its jaws on its opponent.
In January 2020, McMillian sent a message about a previous fight, again involving Slick Rick. It included a photo displaying bite wounds on a dog.
“This is what Kane and Slick Rick did to one another in a roll, in just 3mins,” McMillian wrote. “Them m----------- were in the corner just dieing (sic) to get back at each other. Scratched them, they hit like Mack trucks head on.”
That May, according to the indictment, McMillian raved about one of his younger dogs, “Senorita Maria.”
“First roll was Saturday, she didn’t even know what the f--- was going on!!!!” he wrote. “Broke the other bitch leg, and popped bleeders everywhere!!!!! All this in 5mins!!!!”
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
