Case Summary:
On August 1st, 1988, at the age of 14, my husband, Kenneth D. Carter committed murder on a man that he worked for. Then at the age of 15, he was convicted of 2nd degree murder and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. And for the last 27 years he have been incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Personal History:

Kenneth D. Carter was born and raised in a small town in Missouri April 10, 1974. He is the seventh of nine children, raised in a single parent home, raised by his mother with the help of his grandparents who lived next door. His father was always incarcerated and the same holds true today. He was the only child between his mother and father. His other siblings who shared the household all had different fathers.

Since there were nine children, his mother was unable to give them an equal amount of attention, so he always felt deprived of love. He was introduced to alcohol at the age of eight. His brother was drinking all the time and he would sneak drinks out of his bottles. As a child he was mentally and physically abused by his parents and older siblings on a regular basis and as a result he grew up hating the world. At the age of eleven, he started working several odd jobs and working on the farm. The older guys that he was working with was always drinking alcohol so subsequently he started drinking with them every day. What started to be a situation of him just working to keep some spending money in his pocket turned into something a lot more serious, because eventually he began to work every day just to have money for the alcohol that he had come to like very much.

With drinking alcohol every day, he became a very different person, easily agitated and he basically isolated himself from the world except for the people he worked with every day. Although he continued to work, for the next couple of years he started getting into trouble with the law because of fighting and stealing. He skipped school a lot while continuing to experiment with a variety of drugs: marijuana, huffing paint, paint thinner, etc., anything that would put him, in that make-believe world. When he wasn’t being mistreated at home, his mother would try to get help for him and his escalating behavior problem, but he would leave home when the time came for any scheduled appointments. Alcohol was a big part of his life, basically to hide the pain he was feeling. He became totally dependent on it and from that point he suffered from an addiction much worse than a habit, it was a lifestyle based on a suicidal obsession and no one, not even his mother, could help him find his way to the light.

At the age of 14, he felt numb inside; the only way he knew to feel better was to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. So that’s what he did. His mother was aware of the fact that he worked all the time and she constantly pressured him to bring money into the house to help out a little bit. He never did though, because alcohol was more important to him.

He completed the 8th grade, but was expelled the last three days of school, so he quit. His mother was not aware of the decision that he had made. When it was getting close to the beginning of another school year and he was to start the 9th grade, his mother told him that he had better saved up some money to buy himself school clothes since he had been working all the time and not bringing any money home. Although he had no plans of attending school, he was tired of being pressured about money and buying clothes and everything else that he was dealing with at home. So he felt that in order for her to be content and get off his back, plus have something for himself, he would rob somebody. He didn’t know who or how, he just knew that he would find some way and that’s how he ended up where he is today, because what started out to be a robbery of the man he worked for resulted in his death.

After his arrest for murder, getting certified as an adult and being sentenced to life with parole in an adult facility, he had to act as a man, think as a man and protect himself as a man though he was still a child, and a child he truly was because instead of taking the responsible path that a true man would take, he continued to try to escape from his problems by drinking homemade alcohol and experimenting with several other drugs, marijuana, acid, cocaine, heroin, and pills.

Mental health research unequivocally shows that the formative shaping of the cognitive part of a developing baby’s and adolescent’s brain which is that mechanism which enables humans to process rational thought are permanently interrupted when they consume alcohol and/or drugs. Such research further established that adolescent thinking is present-oriented and tends to ignore or discount future outcomes and implications. That’s because the cognitive sphere of the brain develops at a slower pace than the imaginative sphere, so that in cases where children are introduced to alcohol or drugs, their decisions are almost wholly emotionally based, which largely explains the irrational nature of their crimes.

Had these mitigating factors been considered by both the prosecutor and raised in court by his attorney, it’s reasonably easy to envision that he would have been sentenced to time in prison with an eye on parole eligibility once he reached adulthood and had shown that he had reached his full rehabilitative potential, instead of life with parole.

See, e.g., William, Gardner and Herman “Adolescent’s AIDS Risk Taking: A Rational Choice Perspective,” Adolescents in the AIDS Epidemic (San Francisco: Jossey Bass 1990), pp. 17, 25-26; and also Mary Beyer, “Recognizing the Child Delinquent,” Kentucky Child Rights Journal, Vol. 7 ( Summer 1999), pp. 16-17.
See Meghan M. Deerin, “The Teen Brain theory,” Chicago Tribute, August 12, 2001, p. CI (citing Russell Barkley, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School).

There was no alcohol/drug addiction intervention or role models offered to him before he committed his crime, though killing his victim was tragic, the neglect and abuse suffered as a youth factored into the “why” behind the crime.

His Rehabilitation Process:

After several years of wallowing in a state of confusion, doing drugs and being miserable, he realized that the only way he was going to be able to truly escape from the clutches of the problems that plagued him was by eliminating them by firstly acknowledging that they exist and secondly confronting them head on. The first thing that he realized was that he lacked the education that he needed to comprehend his problems, so he set out and successfully accomplished his G.E.D. in 1995. Then he felt a strong need to participate in several self-help programs, programs that focused on the core of his problems and were geared toward assisting offenders to overcome their substance abuse problems and providing them with viable options and information that will assist them in their eventual reintegration and transition back into both society and their family settings.

Certificates he has received:

1995 Completed G.E.D.
1996 Completed Transactional Analysis (Substance Abuse Education)
1997 Completed Substance Abuse Awareness
1997 Completed I.T.C. Intensive Therapeutic Community (six months)
1998 Completed the full year in the I.T.C. program
1998 Completed Anger Management
1999 Completed Breaking Barriers
2004 Completed twelve week AA Program
2004 Completed ICVC, Impact of Crime on Victims Class
2004 Completed Employability Skills/Life Skills Training
2007 Completed Substance Abuse Program
2008 Completed Psychiatric Medication Education program
2009 Completed Pathway to Change
2011 Received a personal letter of appreciation from the warden at SECC for his assistance with the sandbagging during the flood of 2011 and received a certificate along with a news article honoring everyone who helped during that time.
2012 Received a certificate for being five-year conduct violation free and for demonstrating continued positive behavior and adjustment.
2013 Received a certificate in Transition Training

The Intensive Therapeutic Community (ITC) has been the most instrumental part of his life and recovery. ITC is not just a drug treatment program. It is a behavior modification program as well. The ITC helped him to identify his core dependency as to why he used drugs. They armed him with different ways of coping with people and situations so that he would never harm anyone ever again in any way, and they also helped him take a real good look at himself, the good that he have within him as well as his character defects, and provided him with the necessary tools to better himself. After completing the ITC program, he now have a great appreciation for authority because it established structure in his life and has allowed him to develop into a responsible adult who now welcomes authority as the true foundation of his life.

He did not stay drug free after graduating from ITC. He relapsed a number of times. It took another six years of him learning about himself and his addiction, who he had been at age 14, the sort of man he wanted to be, and the steps he still had to take to get there.

Through the ITC he have regained control of his life. The self-pitying and nothing-to-live-for despair has been removed by positive thinking. These were key indicators of his use but they are being constantly daily monitored. He have been clean and sober for eleven years, since 2004, and he have enjoyed every day of it.

Work-Related History:

Although he came to prison at a very young age with very little experience, his work ethic was established at a young age, living in a small town, and it has been in constant use while incarcerated. He’d learned a lot of different skills by working in a few of the Missouri Vocational Enterprises in the Department of Corrections.

1995 worked as a tutor after completion of his G.E.D.
1996 worked in Office Systems (panel factory) 2 and a half years (JCCC)
1998 worked in the Medical Unit as porter/janitorial (JCCC)
1998 worked as a clerk for classification staff (JCCC)
1999 worked Food Service (Farmington CC)
2000 worked temporarily as a tutor (Moberly CC)
2000 worked in the Sign Shop three years (Moberly CC)
2003 worked Food Service three years (SECC)
2006 worked as a porter/janitorial in the administrative segregation unit until the end of 2011(SECC)
2012-2013 worked in Food Service (SECC)
2014-2015 worked in the Furniture Factory (SECC)
2015  an Elder in the ITC program

The training and skills he have obtained while incarcerated have prepared him for life in society as a law-abiding citizen.

Disparity in Consideration for Parole:

He was sentenced to Life with the possibility of parole and at that time he had to serve a minimum of 15 calendar years according to the Missouri Probation and Parole regulations prior to 1994 which satisfies the deterrent and retributive portion of that sentence required to compensate society for the seriousness of the offense. He have been incarcerated almost 12 years past that mandatory minimum. He have been considered for parole and set back five different times, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. He is scheduled for another reconsideration hearing in 2015. The Parole Board’s reasons for setting him back, denying him parole each time, was “Release at this time would depreciate the seriousness of the present offense based on: Circumstances surrounding the present offense.”

He understand that the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole can maintain incarceration of an offender beyond 15 years for various reasons including a belief that “There does not appear to be a reasonable probability at this time that the offender would live and maintain at liberty without violating the law and release at this time is not in the best interest of society.” However, his institutional behavior, adjustment and/or conduct in general clearly shows that he is not a detriment to society. He have an excellent institutional record with only about 36 infractions committed his entire 27 years of incarceration (no major infractions).

He has shown remorse for his crime from the moment that he took the necessary steps to put his life back together and by the responsible way he live his life still to this day. Also he have made an attempt to express his remorse to the family of his victim in the form of a letter through the Missouri Department of Corrections Victims Coordinator, Ms. Kay Crockette in 2004.

Since 1995 till today he have increasingly pushed himself to reach his full rehabilitative potential. He have demonstrated “no” trace of violence or predatory behavior in his 27 years of incarceration. He have secured necessary education experiences and life experiences and time away from alcohol/drugs, to virtually remove any reasonable likelihood that he would re-offend or return to crime and there were no family members at his sentencing to make victim impact statements. He have no prior criminal record and have always taken responsibility for his crime. He have been eligible for parole almost twelve years now. That 14 year old child who committed that horrible crime no longer exists. Today he is a 41 year old man with integrity, who values life and who chooses to live a responsible and productive life without ever hurting anyone else or getting involved in any criminal activities. It is highly unlikely that after 27 years there would be any public opposition to his being set free on parole.

Home Plan:

He have a home plan with me, his wife and also as an alternative, my husband has a home plan with Project COPE, 3529 Marcus Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63115. Project COPE is a faith-based community re-entry program, committed to working with men and women who were incarcerated for serious crimes.

His advocates, me his wife, Zadora Carter, Sister Mary Ann McGivern, former executive director of Project COPE (now retired), and the present executive director, Ms. Adrienne Denson, have written letters to the Parole Board on his behalf. Ms. McGivern has attended a couple of his parole hearings and we all have agreed to assist him in every way that he may need: job search assistance, financial assistance, housing, counseling, etc.
I have known my husband Kenneth D. Carter every since I was 12 and he was 13 years old. We recently married March 19, 2015 at Southeast Correctional Center. Kenneth D. Carter has grown up in prison, a very hostile environment and has experience many things in his 27 years of incarceration; loneliness, depression, disappointments, and let downs. He has suffered the loss of several love ones, yet his faith in God has helped him endure. God has kept his health intact and has allowed him to use every stepping stone as a tool to better his life so that he can be a good husband to his wife, and a good father to his children, a good son to his mother, a good brother to his siblings, and a productive member in society. I am sure that with all the blessings that lies ahead for him and with my help, my husband Kenneth D. Carter will never break the law again or make any more victims. Kenneth D. Carter has a strong support system, one whose initiatives will increase his chances for a better life as well as place him around people that will more so advocate and encourage his productivity and teach him those things necessary that will make him a better person as he apply the things he learn to guide him in his life.

It was through his application to Project COPE in 2006 that he came to know Sister Mary Ann McGivern. She denied his application at first because he didn’t have a parole out date. So he sent her a 50-page autobiography, telling her all his failings and struggles and his desire to build a good life. She came and interviewed him and he signed an information release form so she could interview his case worker and other prison staff. She got permission from the Project COPE board of directors to accept him and she came to his parole hearings, driving from St. Louis. He wrote to her and she answered him and every few months, when he have a little money, he telephone her.

We ask the Parole Board to order Mr. Kenneth D. Carter release from confinement and place him under the direct supervision of an approved parole officer just as everyone else who has been released from prison on parole. My husband, Mr. Carter do not wish for any special treatment. He just request to be treated fair and treated as an equal to the several other offenders who are presently scheduled to be released and the offenders who have already been released that have a life sentence with the possibility of parole and were charged with murder.

He has reliable home plans and all the assistance an individual may need in their reintegration and transition back into society. He have plans to work as a laborer or in a fast food restaurant and enroll in a vocational school to further his education so that he will have multiple skills that He can use in being a productive citizen. He will join an AA meeting because he know that recovery from addiction is a life-long process. Plus, he plan to give more of himself to society by getting involved in programs that educate “at risk” youths about the effects that alcohol and drugs could have on their lives and how it could lead them to committing crimes that could cost them the rest of their lives in prison.

Reasons Why Parole Should Be Granted:

Reason 1: The mitigating factors of him being 14 years old when the crime was committed and being dependent on alcohol virtually as an adolescent should be considered in looking at the reasons why he committed his crime.
Reason 2: The court sentenced him to life with parole because it saw the possibility in him of successful rehabilitation. I know he is ready to be a tax-contributing and productive citizen.
Reason 3: It is no longer cost-justified to incarcerate a rehabilitated person when the likelihood of re-offending is highly unlikely.

Conclusion:

Based on the foregoing reasons, I respectfully request the Missouri Board of Probation & Parole please consider these mitigating factors and the remarkable change that has occurred in his life, which shows that any more time spent in prison for him would be a tragic waste and to consider this petition for Kenneth D. Carter’s #503492 Bid for Parole. Respectfully submitted his wife, Zadora I. Carter. By signing on the underlined petition here at Change.org you are declaring your support.