Anthony Graves
Burleson
County, Texas
Date of Crime: August 18, 1992
Anthony Graves was sentenced to death after an admitted mass
murderer fingered him as an accomplice in order to protect his wife from
prosecution. In 1992, Robert Earl Carter, a 27-year-old prison guard,
was under pressure from his ex-girlfriend, Lisa Davis, to increase child
support for their son Jason. He was already supporting his wife,
Theresa, and their son, Ryan. Anger over increasing child support
payments does not fully explain Carter's subsequent actions, but it is the
only motive that has been suggested. Carter, reportedly, was a kind,
gentle, and pleasant man, so presumably something within him snapped.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 18, Carter armed himself with a .22
caliber pistol, a knife, and a hammer and drove to Lisa's house in
Sommerville, Texas. Carter beat Lisa's 45-year-old mother, Bobby Joyce
Davis, unconscious with the hammer, then fatally stabbed her with the knife. He then stabbed his four-year-old son, Jason, and shot Lisa's sister,
16-year-old Nicole. Lisa, fortunately, was not at home. Carter
then stabbed to death Lisa's other daughter, 9-year-old D'Nitra. He
finished by stabbing two of Lisa's nieces, Brittany, 6, and Lea'Erin, 5. In an effort to cover his tracks he went back to his car, got some gasoline
and used it to set the house on fire. In total, Carter killed six
people.
Carter was careless in setting fire to the house and severely burned
himself. Four days later he attended the victims' funeral. At
the services police noticed his burns and bandages and took him in for
questioning. He was soon charged with the murders. Police wanted
him to name accomplices. There was evidence on the victims of
bludgeoning as well as knife and gunshot wounds, so police may have thought
that the use of multiple weapons implied there was more than one killer. They may also have felt cheated in only being able to prosecute one
perpetrator for six murders.
Police pressured Carter to name an accomplice and promised not to implicate
his wife in the crime, if he would name someone. In response, Carter
eventually named his wife's cousin, Anthony Graves, a man he barely knew. Graves had briefly met Carter, but did not know any of the victims. At
Graves's grand jury hearing, Carter told the jury that he had committed the
murders alone and that Graves was not involved. Yolanda Mathis,
Graves's 22-year-old girlfriend testified that she had been with Graves at
his mother's house the entire night of the murders along with Graves's
brother, Arthur, 22, and his sister, Dietrich, 24. The prosecution
lacked any physical evidence against Graves. Despite the absence of
any case, DA Charles Sebesta persuaded the grand jury to indict Graves for
capital murder.
Following the grand jury hearing, the DA arrested Carter's wife, apparently
to secure Carter's cooperation. She was released two months later. Over two years later, on the eve of Graves's trial, the DA visited the
already convicted Carter in his cell and threatened to prosecute his wife if
Carter did not testify against Graves. At trial Carter did as he was
told. He, however, recanted his testimony following the trial, always
maintained that state, and reiterated Graves's innocence in his last
statement prior to his 2000 execution.
At Graves's trial, immediately before his alibi witness, Yolanda Mathis, was
to take the stand, the DA had the judge excuse the jury and then stated in
open court that Mathis was a suspect and that if she chose to testify to
what she knew about this case, the state intended to indict her for capital
murder as a co-conspirator. Graves's attorney immediately left the
courtroom to tell Mathis. Mathis fled the courthouse in fear and never
testified. Graves's inexperienced lawyer did nothing to counter this
brazen intimidation of a defense witness. In closing, the DA mocked
the defense by stating, “Where is this alibi witness that Mr. Graves claims
to have been with? Why wasn't she here to testify?” Graves did
have his brother give alibi testimony, but testimony from a blood relative
is not considered as reliable as that from an unrelated person. Graves
was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death.
In Mar. 2006, the federal Fifth Circuit Court overturned Graves's conviction
due to the withholding of evidence by prosecutors. As of early 2007,
the state is appealing the ruling and a new trial has not been scheduled.
[3/07]
________________________________
References: Cell
Door Magazine,
CBS News, Justice:
Denied
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
Southeast Texas Cases, Mass Murder Cases,
Favorite Case Stories
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