The girlfriend of Chavis Carter, the Jonesboro, Arkansas man who was fatally shot in the back of a police car, told an investigator that he called her from the car and said he had a gun with him. Police offered those and other new details in a four-page statement about the investigation into the July 28 death of 21-year-old Chavis Carter. The death was ruled a suicide in an autopsy report released earlier this week. Carter's girlfriend also told the investigator that Carter said he loved her and that he was scared, according to the police statement, which did not identify the woman. Phone records showed Carter made two calls, at least one of which was from the back of the patrol car.
Benjamin Irwin, a Memphis, Tennessee lawyer representing Carter's family, said Wednesday that he was reviewing the latest information from police. "I think the critical points still remain that this young man was in police custody," Irwin said. "He lost his life at a time when they had a responsibility and duty to protect him." Police have been facing criticism since they said officers searched Carter twice but didn't find a gun before he was fatally shot in a patrol car. Race has been noted as an issue in the case because Carter was Black and police have said the two officers who stopped the truck he was in are White.
