State investigation into K-9’s 2022 death has quietly closed in Gloucester County with no criminal charges and no public announcement

Ember, a red fox Labrador working for the Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office, and another dog died four years ago when a local official allegedly left them in a hot vehicle in August.

Now, days after a similar case in Salem County resulted in charges, a Gloucester County commissioner is using the case to renew calls for justice.

Eric Campo, Gloucester County’s counsel, said the Attorney General’s Office notified the county that its investigation into the 2022 incident was closed and returned to Campo’s office with no charges filed last week. He reported receiving an official letter from Andrew Wellbrock, assistant attorney general, on July 10. NJ.com first reported about the letter last week, which Campo later shared with The Inquirer.

Campo said Gloucester County first received notice that the office closed the investigation on July 8, one day after the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office charged Salem County Sgt. Cody Henderson with two third-degree counts of animal cruelty resulting in death and more crimes after Henderson allegedly left two K-9s, Boomer and Rip, in a work vehicle for seven hours in May.

Boomer and Rip likely died of heat stroke, prosecutors said. Henderson has since been suspended, and his pay ceased as of Monday, NJ.com reported. A pre-indictment conference for the case is scheduled for Sept. 10 in New Jersey’s Superior Court.

The Ember investigation didn’t move as quickly.

In fall of 2022, residents packed board of commissioners meetings to demand how Ember, who was donated to the Fire Marshal’s Office in 2020 by Joe Nick K-9 Training in Monroeville, had been allegedly left in Chief County Fire Marshal Shawn Layton’s vehicle to die on Aug. 12.

Meeting minutes from the time describe residents reading statements about Ember and calling for memorials. Those records don’t indicate that county officials reveal what happened.

Ember, who died at 3 years old, worked under Layton’s care as a fire K-9 trained in ignitable liquid detection. Layton’s personal dog also allegedly died in the incident, according to 2022 reporting from 6abc.

Layton, a former Mantua Township committeeperson, still works for Gloucester County as chief county fire marshal, according to the county website. A Mantua Township Facebook post from December 2024 detailed that Layton chose not to run for reelection as a committeeperson to focus on his career.

A representative with the Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office reached Wednesday said they could not comment on the county’s current K-9 protocols, but shared that the Fire Marshal’s Office no longer has any K-9s.

In 2023, Ember’s investigation was transferred from the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office to the New Jersey Attorney General following conflict of interest concerns. The investigation, at least publicly, has been largely silent since.

Chris Konawel, a Republican Gloucester County Commissioner, said he was one of the first county officials to find out about the incident back in 2022, when he said an anonymous phone call informed him Layton had buried the dogs in his backyard.

Since then, Konawel said he has sent about two dozen emails and letters to the Attorney General’s Office inquiring about the investigation. Some of those messages have received responses, he said, but none have contained information about the status of the investigation.

Resident inquiries about Ember have waned over the years, too. Two years ago, a petition among residents for accountability slowed at 371 signatures, though some Facebook users are sharing the link again.

“But the incident in Salem County has shined a light back on this,” Konawel said.

The Attorney General’s Office did not publicly announce the closure of the investigation against Layton, and an official with the office declined to disclose whether the investigation is over.

The official said the office isn’t required to provide notice to anyone, but may provide letters “to an entity that would be responsible for taking an administrative action.” It is unclear whether Gloucester County plans to take administrative action against Layton now that the state investigation has been passed back to the county, but the letter said the investigation’s end at the state doesn’t mean Layton has immunity.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the record, and several other Gloucester County officials did not return requests for comment.