What was supposed to be a simple meeting to buy a puppy ended in a horrifying ambush that left a South Carolina woman dead and her body burned inside a car on the side of a rural road, authorities said.
According to the New York Post, Dana Marie Kinlaw, 40, was killed on Jan. 22 after being lured to a secluded area in Effingham, South Carolina, under the pretense of purchasing a dog.
Investigators allege the encounter was a setup carried out by three people who ambushed and murdered her, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials identified the suspects as 19-year-old Iryanna Jarissa Fleming, 31-year-old Daquinn Taheen Thomas, and Nikko Christopher Carraway. All three have been charged in connection with Kinlaw’s death.
Sheriff’s officials said Kinlaw traveled to Atlantic Road near Springbranch Road, a wooded stretch roughly 95 miles east of Columbia. Fleming, who authorities described as a friend of Kinlaw, was riding with her at the time.
“Supposedly, they went there together,” Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye told WBMF. “Miss Fleming, she was 19 years of age, a friend of Miss Kinlaw, and they rode there together supposedly to buy a puppy.”
Investigators believe Fleming and Thomas arranged a fake puppy sale to convince Kinlaw to make the trip. Once there, Kinlaw was allegedly shot and killed.
Authorities said the suspects then poured a liquid over her body and set it on fire while she was inside the vehicle.
Deputies were dispatched after reports of a vehicle on fire. When they arrived, they found the car still burning with a body inside. Florence County Coroner Keith Von Lutcken later identified the remains as Kinlaw’s.
Von Lutcken ordered an autopsy to be conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The results have not yet been released.
Fleming and Thomas were arrested just hours after the killing and charged with murder, first-degree arson, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Carraway was taken into custody on Wednesday and faces the same charges.
Authorities believe the killing was retaliatory and connected to a separate homicide in neighboring Darlington County that allegedly involved Kinlaw’s son.
“We believe there was a murder committed in Darlington County, which we made the arrest in Lake City that connects them to that arrest with Darlington County officials,” Joye told WBMF. “We feel that her son was involved in that in some way, shape, or form, and we feel this is a retaliation to that murder.”
Court records show Thomas and Carraway have lengthy criminal histories in Florence County dating back to 2014, including attempted murder and armed robbery cases. Thomas was sentenced in March 2025 to nine months in prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
