FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — An Army veteran and graduate of Windham High School has been accused by North Carolina police of executing her therapy dog while she and her boyfriend took turns filming the gruesome slaying. The dog, a pit bull, was tied to a tree when it was shot multiple times with a rifle.

Marinna Rollins

WCSH-TV in Portland, citing the North Carolina Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office as its source, identified the Maine woman as 23-year-old Marinna Rollins and her boyfriend as 25-year-old Jarren Heng of Nebraska. Rollins served as a private in the Army – court documents show Rollins medically retired from the Army in January – while Heng is still in the Army.

Army Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt said Heng is a soldier in a unit that reports to the Army Special Operations Command. Bockholt declined to give the exact unit.

It’s unclear whether they have lawyers.

Rollins joined the Army in February 2014, according to a spokesman with the Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox. The Fayetteville Observer newspaper said she served as a multimedia illustrator and spent time in Korea.

An online video posted Oct. 6, 2014, shows Rollins in uniform relaying a holiday message from Camp Red Cloud in South Korea.

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“I’d like to give a shout out to my family back in Windham, Maine. Happy holidays,” she says.

Rollins, who no longer lives in Maine, is a 2012 graduate of Windham High School, according to the town’s annual report, which lists all the high school’s graduates for that class by name.

Sandy Prince, superintendent of R.S.U. 14, was contacted Wednesday evening, but said he did not recognize Rollins’ name.

North Carolina authorities took Rollins and Heng into custody this week.

They were being held Wednesday evening on charges of felony cruelty to animals and felony conspiracy to commit cruelty, according to a report in the Fayetteville Observer.

Cumberland County District Attorney Clark Reaves told the newspaper that Rollins and Heng filmed the shooting.

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The newspaper said the two took pictures with the dog while dressed in their Army uniform pants and boots. Heng was shirtless while Rollins wore a pink polka-dotted bra, which revealed a tattoo of a rifle across her upper chest.

“They can be heard on the tape laughing and giggling as the dog was being killed,” Reaves said when the couple appeared in court Tuesday. The dog was shot five times. “It was a therapy dog.”

Rollins suffers from PTSD and other emotional issues, WCSH-TV reported. Court documents obtained by the Associated Press said Rollins received medical retirement from the military.

The dog, a gray and white pit bull, served as her emotional support dog.

The animal’s name has been changed a couple of times from Cam or Cumboui to Huey – the name Rollins’ ex-husband chose.

WCSH-TV said authorities became aware of the shooting after Rollins posted a message on her Facebook page that said, “sad that her dog had to go to a happier place.”


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