Robert Carter accused of hitting, killing his 2 kids with his car
DERMOTT, Ark. (KTHV) -- A Chicot County father is accused of hitting and killing his two young children with his car. It happened Sunday afternoon. Police say Robert Carter, 23, is expected to be charged with two counts of capital murder.
Crime tape and tire tracks are all that's left of a horrific scene in Dermott.
"Crazy tragedy. What pushes a person to that point?" says Chicot County Sheriff Ron Nichols.
He's been in law enforcement for more than 20 years and says he's never seen anything like it.
Nichols explains, "I feel so sorry for the kids and the mother, and the entire family."
He says 18-month-old Amoni Elasia Carter and her sister Nekole Carter, 4, were murdered Sunday afternoon. Their mother, Latasha Figures, 24, was injured.
"They were going across the yard and the dad came up in a yard and just run over them," explains Nichols.
Police say it happened not once, but twice.
Carter is the children's father and mother's ex-boyfriend. He was reportedly driving about 25 to 30 miles an hour
Nichols says, "Backs up comes around and does it again from what I've been told."
Police say that's when the children's grandfather got a gun and shot Carter in the knee. Meanwhile, a motive is unclear. Police had never responded to a problem with the couple before. But Today's THV has learned there was a no contact order in place.
Sheriff Nichols says they hope to learn more once they can interview the mother. She's in stable condition at a Little Rock hospital.
"I don't know if there is closure," adds Nichols.
They are the first murders in the small town of Dermott in at least five years. It's a yard forever scarred, but the girl's memories police say not forgotten.
Nichols says, "My heart goes out to both sides of the family."
Deputies say Carter wasn't drunk. As for his mental state, police aren't saying. He is in the hospital under protective custody. He is recovering from a gunshot wound to the knee.
