The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office handed over a Pottsboro shooting case to the District Attorney’s Office on Monday. The case involved a shooting incident between two people that resulted in the death of Charles Carter.
The Grayson County Sheriff’s Office handed over a Pottsboro shooting case to the District Attorney’s Office on Monday. The case involved a shooting incident between two people that resulted in the death of Charles Carter.
On Jan. 11, GCSO responded to a call at a residence in the 500 block of Cedar Oak Drive near Pottsboro where they found the homeowner Vincent Smith, 62, had shot Mr. Carter, 44, in the head causing his death. The bullet entered Mr. Carter’s head on the left side of his face at 7.25 inches below the top of the head and 2.5 inches left of the midline, the autopsy report indicated.
The Herald Democrat obtained the report from the Dallas County Medical Examiners Office. The report estimated Mr. Carter’s time of death was at 3:44 p.m.
Mr. Carter was living in a motor home on Smith’s property and the two were said to be friends. Smith was not taken into custody and no charges have been filed against him. GCSO said Smith was cooperating with the investigation. GCSO Lt. Sarah Bigham said on Tuesday she could not provide any new details about the case.
The DA’s Office will review the case report and determine if additional investigation is needed. District Attorney Joe Brown said in an email statement that if more investigation is not needed, the office will then either refuse charges or forward the case to the grand jury.
"The grand jury review typically happens within two to three months after our receipt of a case, but that time can be shorter or longer depending on several factors," Brown said in the statement. "The grand jury will either produce an indictment on a felony offense or return a ‘no-bill,’ declining any charges."
In an interview with the Herald Democrat in January, Mandy Sulser, a close friend of Mr. Carter, said they were both homeless and Smith let the two live on his property beginning in December. Sulser could not be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday. In the previous interview, she said the situation was starting to get tense about a week or so before the shooting. Tensions were running high possibly because of differing opinions on how to run a Facebook page for a group with which the two men were involved, she said. Both men were founders of "Paul Revere 2016: Final March to Restore America," a far-right, anti-corruption movement.
Sulser said Smith had told them the day before the shooting that they couldn’t stay on his property anymore, so Sulser left. She said Mr. Carter had made plans to look for work in Colorado. She wasn’t there when the shooting happened and no other people were involved. The Texas Rangers informed Sulser of Mr. Carter’s death on the night it happened, and she said they told her it looked like Smith might have shot Mr. Carter in self-defense.
"And I told the officer, when he asked me: ‘Does he drink? Does he ever get violent or anything? Was he ever violent with you?’" Sulser said. "And I said ‘No, sir.’ I was quick to answer. I was very direct, because he’s not once in 11 years, not one time (been violent)."
The autopsy report, which was prepared on Jan. 12, indicated Mr. Carter’s postmortem blood alcohol levels were at 0.206. In comparison, when an individual’s blood alcohol levels are above 0.08, all states prohibit operation of a vehicle. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in general alcohol becomes life threatening when the blood alcohol levels are between 0.31 to 0.45. When levels are between 0.16 and 0.3, alcohol produces varying effects based on the individual, but the individual is typically seen as severly impaired.
