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Letter to the editor

A second chance dissolves into life in prison

When Emory Carter set a church on fire eight years ago, he was shown mercy. But that kindness failed, as on Friday he was sent to prison for murder.

By CHRIS TISCH
Published December 18, 2004

	[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
	As he was sentenced to life in prison Friday, Emory Carter shouted profanities at Judge Brandt Downey and at the family of the man he killed, Mike Kelley. Carter cursed at Downey and called him a "filthy dog."
	[Handout photo]
	Mike Kelley was battling AIDS when he was beaten and stabbed to death by Emory Carter.

LARGO - Eight years ago, Emory Carter set fire to a church during a night of disturbances in St. Petersburg.

After Carter wrote a letter of apology, church leaders forgave him and persuaded a judge to spare him from prison.

Carter, now 25, was back in court Friday, this time for sentencing in the vicious killing of a man during a robbery in St. Petersburg.

Carter was not the sorry young man he was after the church fire. He was foul-mouthed and angry. He berated the victim's family, cursed at the judge and asked for the death penalty.

"You shut up. F--- you," Carter yelled at Judge Brandt Downey during the sentencing. "Give me my sentence so I can get the f--- out of your ugly face."

At one point, Carter spit toward Downey and called him a "filthy dog."

When the victim's sister tried to make a statement, Carter turned toward her and suggested the family failed in raising her brother, Mike Kelley, mentioning that he had AIDS and struggled with drugs.

"Shut your mouth, b----," Carter yelled at Tina Kelley.

Kelley's family members huddled and sobbed. Kelley's sister never finished her statement.

Downey waited for Carter to finish, calmly asking him several times if he was done.

"Give me mine and you'll get yours," Carter said.

Downey sentenced him to life in prison. Carter erupted. He screamed at the judge and family as bailiffs led him away.

For Kelley's family, the hearing ended a five-year ordeal. Carter was at one time found incompetent and fired every attorney appointed to help him, so it took that long for the case to reach trial.

Family members said the case became more about Carter than Kelley. They said they left somewhat disappointed Friday that Carter's outbursts prevented them from saying more in court.

But they said they were satisfied that Carter never will get out of prison.

"It's been about Mr. Carter for the last five years," said Tina Kelley, the victim's sister. "It's not about Mr. Carter anymore. It's about Mike."

On an October night in 1996, Carter tried to burn down Trinity United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg. That night, the city was enduring rock-throwing and fires prompted by the shooting of a black man by a white police officer.

Carter chose the church, which had a racially mixed congregation, because he saw police officers use it as a meeting place.

Carter, then 17, poured gasoline on a window, a metal tank, an electrical panel and the concrete-block exterior of the church. He did not try to set afire more flammable objects, such as the wooden front door.

As a result, the church had only about $750 in damage. But Carter set his pants on fire and burned his legs. After he left the church, he flagged down paramedics to treat his burns. He was charged with arson.

Later, Carter wrote a letter to the church, saying "if I could I would rebuild the church ... I am truly sorry."

When Carter went to court months later, the church's then-pastor, Joseph Teague, asked Judge Lauren Laughlin for mercy. The story was featured on the front page of the St. Petersburg Times.

"Here was a 17-year-old who was caught up in the moment," Teague said then. He asked that Carter be sent to a group home and work off the repair bill by volunteering at the church.

Carter stood in prison blues, hands folded and silent.

Though prosecutors asked Laughlin to sentence Carter to two years in prison, she agreed to send him to a boys village.

But Carter, who had a history of mental problems and was shuttled from relative to relative as a youngster, did not fare well. Though he received letters and care packages from the congregation, he got into fights, sending one boy to the hospital.

After he racked up 30 violations in a week, the boys school sent Carter back to Laughlin. She sentenced him to two years in prison.

Carter was released from prison in July 1999. Six months later, Carter went into Kelley's garage apartment and stabbed him with a serving fork and a pocketknife, beat him with a motorcycle helmet and strangled him.

Kelley was withered from AIDS at the time. He wore a pain patch and couldn't walk the stairs to his apartment. His girlfriend found him dead on his couch, the fork in his neck.

Carter knew Kelley from the neighborhood and may have known he had money. Kelley had just taken $500 out of his bank account. Police identified Carter as a suspect after someone saw him wearing a bloody T-shirt. Though Carter changed clothes, there was so much blood on his skin that police found traces of Kelley's blood on the clothes he changed into.

The murder qualified for the death penalty because of Carter's previous arson case and the nature of the killing. That Kelley was such a vulnerable victim also played into the decision to seek death.

Carter was twice sent to mental hospitals after being declared incompetent. But Downey later ruled Carter knew right from wrong and was ready for trial.

Carter fired at least four attorneys appointed to represent him and demanded to defend himself.

His trial lasted a week in September. Carter cursed at Downey and prosecutors in front of the jury and frequently lost his temper, said prosecutor Dave Tobiassen.

The jury took just a few hours to convict him of first-degree murder. Carter waived his right to have a jury recommend if he receive the death penalty, placing his sentence in Downey's hands.

Carter asked for the death penalty, which comes with an automatic review by the Florida Supreme Court. Kelley's family members said they were pleased Downey didn't give Carter his wish.

Afterward, Tina Kelley described her brother, who had one daughter, as "a very caring, giving person."

She said she plans to think of her brother often this Christmas now that the hearings are over, though she regretted not saying more in court.

"Five years is a long time to wait and not be able to say anything," she said.

As for Carter, she said: "There's a special place in hell for him. And I hope he finds it."

[Last modified December 18, 2004, 00:08:20]