A Florida man in an on-and-off relationship shot the woman in the head and murdered a man she invited over who was hiding in a closet.
After a two-day trial last week, a Putnam County jury found defendant Oba Carter guilty of First-Degree Murder (Firearm), Attempted Second-Degree Murder (Firearm) and Burglary of a Dwelling while Armed with a Firearm.
On May 23, 2021, a woman had a man over at her home on North 11th Street in Palatka following a nearby block party.
Carter, who was in an on-and-off relationship with the woman, showed up at the house uninvited. The defendant broke in and then found the man hiding in a closet. Carter then pulled out a gun and shot him multiple times.
The victim died from his injuries at the scene. The woman was also shot once in the head, but she recovered from her injuries at the hospital.
The search for Carter spanned more than a year, but the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force assisted the Palatka Police Department in locating and arresting him in July 2022.
“Domestic homicides make up approximately 20% of all murders we prosecute,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “This case is a sad reminder of the potentially deadly nature of relationships that go bad.”
The case was investigated by the Palatka Police Department with assistance from Seventh Circuit State Attorney’s Office Investigators and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton successfully tried the case for the state. The Honorable Alicia Washington presided over the case and will pronounce sentence on May 5, 2024.
Carter faces a mandatory life in prison sentence for the crimes.
