Charlotte Carman | Homicide Watch Trenton

Jilted ex-girlfriend gets 17 years for killing Paris France Way in vicious stabbing

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 19:22:55 -0400

The city woman who killed her ex-boyfriend in a May 2015 East Trenton stabbing attack has received 17 years of state imprisonment.

Charlotte Carman, 40, was originally charged with first-degree murder for fatally plunging a knife into the lung of 33-year-old Paris France Way but pleaded guilty earlier this year to a downgraded charge of aggravated manslaughter.

Charlotte Carman (left) and Paris France Way

Four of Way’s loved ones, including his mother and two sons, cried on the courtroom podium Friday afternoon as they spoke at Carman’s sentencing hearing about the pain of their loss.

“It’s so hard. I miss my son so much,” Robin Porter said, noting Paris Way was her first-born and that she had introduced him to Carman. “I don’t know why she took my son’s life.”

“I wish my dad was still here,” said 16-year-old Nazir Way. “I loved my dad so much. I think about him all the time.”

Paris Tyson, 16, said the violent death of his father has ripped the family apart, adding, “He wanted to do so much with us, but now he can’t because he’s not here anymore.”

Longtime friend Nikiya Jacobs, who began dating Paris Way several weeks before his death, also spoke at Friday’s sentencing. “I miss him every day,” she said. “We need peace. We need comfort. We need closure.”

Carman took Paris France Way’s life on May 31, 2015, launching a fatal knife attack after stalking him near the intersection of Sherman Avenue and St. Joe’s Avenue. Police arrested Carman about two weeks after the slaying.

“Jealousy and rage fueled this homicide,” Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds said, requesting the court to hit Carman with at least 20 years of incarceration.

Geurds recalled the facts in the case, reminding the court that Carman “viciously stabbed the victim” and left him to die in the street. Carman also spit on the victim as he was dying, stole his cash and other personal belongings and slashed the four tires to Nikiya Jacobs’ vehicle before fleeing, Geurds said.

“This defendant all along has never showed remorse,” Geurds added. She also mentioned that Carman got a tattoo in the days following the homicide, using the victim’s money to pay for it. The tattoo depicted the victim’s date of birth.

“This case did involve provocation,” Carman’s defense attorney Joseph Krakora said Friday, urging the court to impose a 15-year prison sentence, which he described as “a substantial punishment.”

“Had this case gone to trial, Ms. Carman would have pleaded self-defense,” the public defender said, adding his client over the last two years has “expressed how sorry she is.”

Carman sported an orange Mercer County Correction Center inmate jumpsuit and did not speak at her sentencing hearing on Friday. She sat quietly and did not appear to be emotional one way or another.

Within the statutory range, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown could have sentenced Carman to as low as 10 years of incarceration or as much as 30 years behind bars for aggravated manslaughter.

Carman was a jilted ex-girlfriend jealous of Paris Way being with another woman. Judge Brown took that into account but also said the fact that Carman mailed a post-homicide letter to Paris Way’s family “gives credence to the fact that she is somewhat remorseful.”

Brown sentenced Carman to 17 years of incarceration to be followed by five years of parole supervision. She must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence and is barred from having any contact with the victim’s family. She also has been ordered to pay about $600 in restitution for the damage she caused to Nikiya Jacobs’ vehicle.

Carman, who has been incarcerated at the county jail since June 14, 2015, has been awarded with 854 days of jail credit, meaning she will be eligible for parole in about 12 years.

The victim’s mother was not satisfied with the punishment.

“She should have gotten life,” Robin Porter said of Carman. “Seventeen years ain’t nothing. She had no remorse at all.”

Trenton woman accused of slaying ex-boyfriend rejects plea deal

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 17:27:50 -0500

Charlotte Carman

A woman accused of fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend intends to go to trial on a self-defense claim rather than accept a plea deal that would have put her in prison for 30 years.

Charlotte Carman could possibly serve 63 years behind bars if convicted on murder charges. The 39-year old Trenton woman is accused of killing Paris France Way, 33, on May 31, 2015, near the intersection of Sherman and St. Joe’s avenues in Trenton.

Police arrested Carman on June 12, 2015, and she remains incarcerated in the Mercer County Correction Center on $400,000 cash bail as she awaits trial.

At a pre-trial conference on Tuesday, Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds said Carman was waiting by the victim’s home in stalker fashion, waiting for the victim to return home on the date of the slaying.

Carman eventually saw Way and a neighbor and then approached her former beau when he was alone on the street. “He reacted by saying, ‘What are you doing? Why are you stalking me?’” Geurds said, alleging that Carman “took a knife from her person and ended up stabbing him in the lung.”

As the victim was dying in the street from his injuries, Carman allegedly stabbed each of the victim’s four car tires, which was caught on surveillance video, Geurds said.

A female witness saw the victim screaming for help and will testify as an eyewitness when the case goes to trial, Geurds said.

In the two weeks between the murder and Carman’s arrest, Geurds said Carman used the victim’s money to get a tattoo depicting the victim’s date of birth. The assistant prosecutor also said that Carman “admits she spit on the victim while he was dying.”

Carman is being represented by public defender Joseph E. Krakora, who unsuccessfully negotiated a plea agreement calling for his client to receive 12 years in state prison.

Woman accused of stabbing former beau will claim self-defense

Isaac Avilucea — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 15:11:32 -0500

Charlotte Carman

During a rare appearance in Mercer County Superior Court, the state’s top public defender said a Trenton woman accused of fatally stabbing her former boyfriend in a jealous rage last year had suffered facial fractures after being abused by the victim prior to the stabbing.

At a bail reconsideration hearing Monday, Joseph Krakora revealed Charlotte Carman will claim she acted in self-defense when she stabbed Paris France Way to death in May 2015 after he struck her in the face with a 2-liter soda bottle.

Charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, criminal mischief and weapons offenses, Carman was extended a plea deal by prosecutors for the first time that would require her to spend 30 years in state prison if she pleads guilty.

Krakora’s self-defense announcement stirred Way’s family members who were in court Monday for a bail reconsideration hearing for Carman. One woman believed to be Way’s mother cursed at the suggestion of self-defense and had to be calmed down by Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds.

Krakora excoriated prosecutors for not turning over discovery in the murder case, saying they disregarded Judge Pedro Jimenez’s court order to turn over police reports and other documents by late last month.

The hearing grew so acrimonious between prosecutors and Krakora that Jimenez took the parties into chambers for several minutes to discuss the issues privately.

While disputing that the woman acted in self-defense, Geurds released details about the stabbing not made public at Carman’s bail hearing in June. She also said she has not been provided with medical records to substantiate Carman’s alleged injuries.

“This was not self-defense,” Geurds said. “Her demeanor was not of a frightened person but someone who was ticked off.”

Prosecutors had said at a bail hearing last year Carman confessed to stabbing Way four times, piercing his heart and collapsing his lung, after she found him driving in a car with another woman.

She slashed the tires on Way’s Hyundai Sonata, took $180 from his wallet and spat on him while he lay dying on the street near the intersection of Sherman and St. Joes.

On Monday, Geurds revealed Carman stalked Way prior to the stabbing on May 31, 2015, sending Way’s brother a message over Facebook asking about his “stupid a** brother’s” whereabouts.

She was upset he did not pick her up, and took a cab to where he was, Geurds said.

As far as Way was concerned, his relationship with Carman was over, Geurds said. Carman felt differently and was infuriated when she saw Way in his car with another woman.

She confronted him, believing he was involved with the woman, slapped grocery bags from his hands and slapped him, Geurds said, prompting Way to defend himself by swinging the soda bottle.

The Trentonian had reported, based on information released at Carman’s bail hearing and a friend’s suggestion he liked women “to a fault,” that Way was involved with the woman.

Geurds said her office believes Way and the woman, who witnessed the stabbing, were not romantically linked and were neighbors who had lived next to each other for a few months.

The woman was inside eating dinner with her son after Way dropped her off. They had gone grocery shopping together, Geurds said.

Carman cursed Way out over the woman, prosecutors said, demanded money for her to get her hair done and for her to purchase marijuana. Then she allegedly stabbed him four times, took his cell phone, cigarettes and $180 from his wallet which she used the next day to pay for a memorial tattoo with Way’s date of death, prosecutors said.

Carman also spat on Way as he told her, “You hurt me. I need help,” according to prosecutors.

Geurds said the bloody knife used in the stabbing had traces of DNA belonging to Carman and the victim. Carman admitted getting rid of Way’s cell phone, the knife and her bloody clothes, Geurds said.

The prosecutor disputed Krakora’s suggestion that Carman is not a flight risk, saying that after she was arrested in New Brunswick, she tried to slip out of a backdoor where she was being held by marshals.

Touting a bail reform law that takes effect in New Jersey next year, Krakora asked for Carman, who has been held in lieu of $770,000, to be released from jail without bail while she awaits the outcome of her case.

He cited prosecutors’ refusal to turn over discovery as a change in circumstances for Carman and the reason he asked for a probable cause hearing to determine if prosecutors had enough evidence to move forward with the case against Carman.

He withdrew his request for the probable cause hearing, saying some documents that have been turned over show there is enough evidence for prosecutors to go ahead with the case.

Judge Jimenez, citing Carman’s prior convictions for resisting arrest and child abuse and the seriousness of the charges, refused to release Carman without bail. However, he reduced bail to $400,000 and required a source hearing to vet the money if the Carman posts it.

Prosecutors: Infidelity led Trenton woman to murder her boyfriend

Isaac Avilucea — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 11:26:36 -0400

One of Paris France Way’s friends said his friend liked women, “probably to a fault.” Way’s way with women appears to have led to his death.

His girlfriend, Charlotte Carman, 38, of Trenton, apparently lashed out at him in the early-morning hours of May 31, stabbing him four times near the intersection of Sherman and St. Joes when she discovered he had been out with another woman, officials said.

She then slashed the tires of his Hyundai Sonata, returned to where he was laying in the street, stabbed him once more and spat on him, First Assistant Prosecutor Tom Meidt said. Prosecutors revealed at a bail hearing Friday this all happened as Way’s mistress watched in horror.

While the stabbing was not captured by a patchwork of surveillance from city businesses, Meidt said, footage shows Carman slashing Way’s tires, apparently with the same bloodied knife she had just used to stab Way.

Meidt said investigators encountered a blood trail that led from the victim to his car.

In addition to witnesses identifying Carman as the assailant, prosecutors said Carman confessed to stabbing Way to multiple people, including her pastor as well as police. She is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, weapons offenses and criminal mischief.

Carman is accused of taking Way’s cellphone and $180 from his pocket, leading to the robbery and felony murder charges. She was charged with criminal mischief because she slashed his car tires, prosecutors said.

Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta maintained Carman’s bail at $770,000 after hearing from prosecutors, who labeled the woman a flight risk.

Following the murder, Carman was arrested by members of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force in New Brunswick, where authorities say she had fled.

Carman’s attorney, Kathleen Redpath-Perez, disputed that accusation, saying her client has three daughters in New Brunswick and was there visiting them.

Redpath-Perez hinted she or whoever is assigned Carman’s case may put on a self-defense case and that her client was in the “fight for her life” after Way reportedly struck her with a grocery bag containing a 2-liter plastic soda bottle.

While Redpath-Perez did not say her client was a battered woman, she said she was involved in a “domestic violence relationship” with Way. She did not say what evidence she plans to put on to support her contention.

Carman has prior convictions for resisting arrest and a felony conviction for child abuse from 2004. She served 18 months in state prison on the resisting charge, which appeared to have been downgraded from an escape charge, prosecutors said.

Carman, who has six children – all who are being cared for by relatives –received a probationary sentence on the child abuse conviction.

Way left behind four sons of his own, his friend Johnathan Nealy, told The Trentonian.

“He liked women, probably to a fault, but he was a really good guy and would give you the shirt off of his back,” Nealy said. “He wasn’t perfect, and no one is, but he by no means deserved what happened to him. I’ve watched him mature into a grown man with responsibilities, and I always wanted the best for him. I knew that I could always depend on him if I needed something.”

Trenton woman arrested in connection with murder of Paris France Way

Penny Ray — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 13:54:30 -0400

Paris France Way (Contributed photo)

When Johnathan Nealy learned that his friend of 22 years was stabbed to death last month, the blood rushed out of his head and his body turned cold.

Nealy said he learned about the stabbing death of 33-year-old Paris France Way after someone posted the link to a Homicide Watch article on Facebook.

“I laid there shocked, and reread the article multiple times,” Nealy said. “I'm still shocked to this day. Every couple of hours it'll pop into my head, and I'll think about him. I still expect to receive a text from him, or for him to ring my doorbell.”

Around 2 a.m. on May 31, police found Way lying in the intersection of Sherman and St. Joes avenues suffering from multiple stab wounds to the chest. Way later died at the hospital.

Prosecutors say the investigation revealed that Way and a female neighbor arrived on Sherman Avenue shortly before the murder. After exiting Way’s Hyundai Sonata, he and the woman started walking toward their separate homes. Prosecutors say 38-year-old Charlotte Carman then approached Way, which sparked a physical altercation.

According to prosecutors, Carman slashed all of the tires on the Hyundai, and then stabbed Way in the chest multiple times. Carman also took Way’s cellphone, along with $180 he had in his pocket.

Charlotte Carman (pictured) is accused of stabbing and killing Paris Way

Carman was arrested in New Brunswick Friday evening by members of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force. She is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, weapons offenses and criminal mischief in connection with Way's death. Her bail was set at $770,000 cash or bond.

“That is absolutely outrageous,” Nealy said about the circumstances surrounding Way’s death. “I'm angry to hear that, and I'm beyond words.”

According to Nealy, Way left behind four sons, whom he constantly talked about. Way had just moved to Sherman Avenue about two months prior to his death, Nealy said, and he rented a room from a couple who lived on that street. Nealy said Way wasn’t the type of person to hang out in the streets all night, and he cared for his grandmother who lives in a medical facility.

“He was a man who cared for his children and loved his family,” Nealy said. “He really tried to live a good life.”

Nealy described Way as being an “old soul” who lived his life differently than others his age. Nealy said he spoke to Way about two weeks before his death and they talked about Way’s new job in waste management, and of course, his kids.

“He was keeping some items at my house and he stopped by after work to pick up some stuff,” Nealy said. “We talked about work and other random topics. He laughed and joked a lot."

Iridious Jones and Way were cousins by marriage, and Jones said he knew Paris for about 20 years. Jones described him as the type of person who would always try and lift others’ spirit.

"We didn't hang out much, but we talked whenever we had the chance,” Jones said. “He was one of the coolest dudes I've met in a long time. No matter how bad your situation, when you saw Paris, he'd make you forget for a moment that you were struggling.”

Nealy said Way was dependable and always willing to lend a helping hand.

“He liked women, probably to a fault, but he was a really good guy and would give you the shirt off of his back,” Nealy said. “He wasn't perfect, and no one is, but he by no means deserved what happened to him. I've watched him mature into a grown man with responsibilities, and I always wanted the best for him. I knew that I could always depend on him if I needed something.”