Probation officer gives office BJ to boot-camp teen 1
Her Diary Is Even Scarier 2
Jury Seeks Death for Slasher 3

Louisiana Family Slayings: Dennis and Donna Carter Had Marital Problems Going Way Back

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 9:30 am
Amber-Carter.jpg
Pregnant Amber Carter was shot while jumping from a second story window.
​Last weekend, Dennis Carter Sr. showed up at the Holden, Louisiana home of his estranged wife Donna. By the time he left, he'd slaughtered three family members and left his pregnant daughter-in-law in critical condition after shooting her as she jumped out of a second story window. Dennis later committed suicide as police closed in. But according to Livingston Parish court records, Dennis Carter had been threatening to kill his wife for at least two years.

In 2007, Donna sought a protection order, claiming he had threatened with a murder-suicide. A month later, Dennis filed for divorce. And a month after that, Donna asked that the protection order be withdrawn.

Then Dennis filed for a protection order of his own, claiming she'd pulled a gun and chucked a glass at him. But he too had a change of heart. He soon petitioned the court to have both the divorce and the protection order pulled. The couple seemed to get along for the next year -- or a least stay out of court. But this spring, the violence heated up again...

Mason-Carter.jpg
Two-year-old grandson Mason was among the dead
​

Donna sought another protection order in March after Dennis again threatened to kill her and tried to cut her with a machete. Dennis was arrested and evicted from the family home that same month.

But he apparently didn't have a lot of respect for the order. Even after he was evicted, he returned to the house with the deputy was still there. Donna worried that her husband would keep coming back, so Livingston Parish set up extra patrols. Donna filed for divorce.

Her petition was supposed to be ruled on later this month, and that's what may have set Dennis off. The night before the massacre, he called son Devin to leave yet another death threat. But before Devin filed the papers to have Dad arrested, Dennis arrived at his wife's home, gunning down son Dennis Jr., two-year-old grandson Mason, and his wife. 

After suffering multiple gunshot wounds, Amber Carter, six months pregnant, still managed to give birth to a healthy daughter. Mom, however, remains in critical condition.


More links from around the web!

Email Print