INDIANAPOLIS – An Indianapolis man is in jail accused of murdering his own father on the near east side.
On Sunday morning, IMPD East District officers were called to an apartment building in the 100 Block of N. Oxford Street.
According to court records, the murder suspect initially claimed he found his father dead inside the victim’s apartment.
“It was right about 8 o’clock and he called and said, ‘You need to get here. Dad is unresponsive,’” said pastor Louis Norris with Serenity the Prince of Peace church.
After officers arrived they found 62-year-old Raphael Carter Jr. lying in a pool of blood next to his wheelchair. The victim had been shot in the head.
“Elder Carter was a good guy and he didn’t deserve that,” said Norris.
Pastor Norris says the victim served as his assistant pastor and Sunday school superintendent at their church on Prospect Street, even after Carter Jr. had his leg amputated due to complications from diabetes.
“He loved Sunday school and he loved teaching,” said Norris.
Police claim 39-year-old Raphael Carter III confessed he killed his dad around midnight, went to a casino with his husband and later returned to the apartment and called police.
“People just want to be heard,” said Dountonia Batts with the Peace Learning Center.
Dountonia Batts doesn’t know the victim in this case but believes teaching families how to manage emotions and de-escalate family conflicts can prevent violence.
The Peace Learning Center is designed to teach people those skills.
“Conflict resolution is about finding a win-win situation,” said Batts. “Often when people don’t feel like they’re heard, it can escalate a situation.”
According to the affidavit in this case, Carter III didn’t provide a motive for the murder but admitted he had been estranged from his father because the suspect was gay. Carter III told police the pair had been reconnecting recently.
The suspect allegedly claimed he thought about killing himself before shooting his father.
“They were trying to work through some things and elder Carter loved his son,” said Norris. “It doesn’t feel good that he’s not going to be around anymore.”
Court records also claim the suspect told his husband that his dad died in the hospital from health complications days earlier and had pretended his father was dead for four days leading up to the shooting.
The suspect is being held without bond pending the filing of formal charges.
