Five arrested in alleged kidnapping where woman was kept in dog cage at Augusta home

Richmond County deputies this week arrested five people connected to the kidnapping and assault of a 20-year-old woman who was kept in a dog cage.

Anjelika Figueroa, 29, Shonna Powell, 32, DeMichael Dawson, 24, Savannah Piazzi, 18, and Dawson Weston, 19, are charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime. DeMichael Dawson was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

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Just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Richmond County deputies responded to the Sprint Gas Station on Peach Orchard Road in Hephzibah for a domestic violence incident.

A man told deputies he saw a Black, 20-year-old woman naked, beaten severely, and locked in a dog cage at a home on the 2200 block of Nellie Drive, where she asked him for help.

Powell allegedly told the man, "She stole a bunch of stuff from me so she is going to be my sex slave and I am going to pimp her out until she pays it off," according to an incident report.

The man told deputies he believed multiple people were headed to the home to rape the victim and two people inside the home were armed.

When deputies arrived at the home, they found an empty cage along with both human and animal feces in different rooms. The victim was found "injured and emotionally distraught" with multiple injuries to her face, according to the report.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Woman kept in dog cage in Georgia; 5 arrested, charged with kidnapping