Mother says she was failed by KY courts after man gets 10 years in 2 killings
Cristina Sandusky feels failed by the Fayette County justice system.
Deonte Demarcus Carter was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison for his role in a pair of fatal Lexington shootings that happened 21 days apart. One of those killed her son.
Carter pleaded to lesser charges of manslaughter in both cases, and Judge Julie Muth Goodman sentenced him to a total of 15 years: two 10-year sentences, to be served simultaneously, for the killings, and five years for criminal facilitation to robbery.
The charges were reduced as part of a plea negotiations made with prosecutors, who felt they didn’t have enough evidence to convict Carter of murder.
In a Dec. 9 interview with the Herald-Leader, Sandusky described different parts of her experience with legal officials as “dismissive,” “disheartening” and “disrespectful.”
“They didn’t do anything for my son,” she said of Fayette County prosecutors. “Just got to have a win under their belt.”
Carter shoots two men 21 days apart
Devon Sandusky, 21, was shot and killed Dec. 17, 2021, at a family member’s home off Oak Hill Drive in north Lexington.
Social media interactions and forensic evidence pointed to Carter as the suspect. Lexington Police Department Det. Tim Moore testified a bullet extracted from Devon Sandusky’s head matched a gun Carter had when he was arrested. Carter was also in possession of the car used to leave the scene.
Carter admitted to knowing Devon Sandusky through narcotics dealings.
But police did not charge Carter until nearly a month after Devon’s death, when he was already behind bars for a separate murder charge in the killing of 26-year-old Kobby Martin, who was found shot dead Jan. 7, 2022, on Cantrill Drive.
Carter was charged with killing Martin after detectives found a large amount of blood inside Carter’s car that matched Martin. Police said the car was stolen.
Electronic evidence, including phone calls, text messages and location data also connected Carter to the crime, according to court documents.
Four days after Martin’s death, Carter was arrested and charged with murder. Then, in January 2023, he was charged with murder in Devon’s death.
Cristina Sandusky said she was assured by prosecutors that Carter’s case would go to trial. They told her they had plenty of evidence.
“I was told from day one, no matter what happened, ‘This is a wrap,’ and, ‘We aren’t taking plea deals,’” Sandusky told the Herald-Leader.
Carter faces two counts of murder, robbery and being a persistent felony offender. The last charge alone can carry a sentence of up to 15 years.
Sandusky emotionally and mentally began to prepare for trial as it loomed closer, even taking time off work to attend the trial.
But the Friday before trial was scheduled to begin in mid-October, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Bryant called the mother to tell her there were “some holes in the case.”
Video footage was grainy. There may have been three people involved. Their office was not willing to take it to trial.
Instead, they dropped Carter’s persistent felony offender charge and amended the murder charges to second degree-complicity to manslaughter. The robbery charge remained.
The maximum sentence he could face for the killings: 20 years.
Deontae Carter’s plea
There was one silver lining for the mother: If Carter took a plea deal, he would have to admit in open court what he did to her son and Martin.
But she was let down again when she arrived in court Oct. 10 and Carter instead took an Alford Plea — a type of plea where a defendant maintains their innocence but admits prosecutors likely have enough evidence for a conviction.
In “shock and disbelief,” Sandusky told the prosecutor her family didn’t want the deal or an Alford plea.
“We told them we were unhappy about it, and (Bryant) told us it wasn’t our decision,” Sandusky said.
It’s a common misconception, and sometimes harsh reality, that the state prosecutor doesn’t represent the victim’s family, but the public at large, said Fayette Commonwealth'’ Attorney Kim Baird.
Baird and Bryant weren’t sure they could convict Carter for murder based on their review of the facts, they said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.
Sometimes the government has facts when the case is first presented, but additional facts presented throughout the investigation can change how they view the case, Baird said.
Oftentimes, victim’s family members hear things on the street, and their understanding of the strength of the case may not be correct or complete, Baird said.
“There is not an offer or number that is going to make this OK,” Baird told the Herald-Leader. “Because at the end of the day, your loved one is dead. But legally, we know what we can present and prove.”
Mother: Judge was ‘nasty and dismissive’
From the moment Carter’s case was assigned to Judge Goodman, Sandusky said she was told the judge was not friendly to victims’ families.
Goodman has been criticized, including by Kentucky’s attorney general, for previous rulings deemed lenient. But Sandusky maintained faith the judge would do the right thing.
For the mother, that meant sentencing Carter to the maximum sentence of 20 years — 10 years apiece for the killings, plus some additional time for the robbery charge.
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But Sandusky instead described Goodman’s comments in the courtroom as “more sympathetic to the defense.”
“She was nasty and dismissive,” Sandusky said. “She didn’t look at me one time.”
Goodman lauded Carter and said the justice system had failed him throughout his youth, Sandusky recalled.
Goodman denied those criticisms, which she said stem from her refusal to “rubber stamp” prosecutors’ requests.
“Judges get the brunt of it. But it was the commonwealth that amended these charges, and the commonwealth that allowed an Alford plea,” Goodman told the Herald-Leader. “In reality, I neither wear a hat for the commonwealth nor the defense, and my job is to ensure justice and make sure that everyone is treated fairly.”
Marcel Radomile, one of Carter’s lawyers, said her client pleaded because he thought it was in his best interest to do so.
“If we had not reached an agreement with the prosecutor for the lesser offenses, then Deonte would have gone to trial,” Radomile said.
Radomile said it stands to reason that the prosecutor would not have agreed to the less serious charges if a stronger case for murder could be made.
“We recognize and respect the grief of the surviving friends and family, even as we believe that the sentence imposed for the two complicity convictions is appropriate,” Radomile said.
Carter was sentenced Dec. 3.
