[4][5] Newspapers described Carter as a "laborer" who had been struggling to find consistent work for weeks prior the murder.

Carter claimed to have chanced upon the murder weapon lying on the ground near a bus stop two weeks prior to the murder of Cassels, and that his initial intention with the gun was to sell it for quick money and that he did not initially want to use it in the commission of a crime, but he could not find anyone willing to purchase the gun.

[3] An off-duty police officer with the District of Columbia's third precinct who happened to be nearby during the robbery, 26-year-old Private George W. Cassels, gave chase to Carter on foot following a verbal prompt from the business owner to "stop that man".

[3][6][7] Immediately after the shooting, Carter attempted to go into hiding to avoid capture; he ran to his own home, which was located one block from the murder scene, and hid there while police officers questioned his wife regarding his whereabouts.

He also said his family's financial problems and his desperation motivated him to carry out the robbery, especially in light of his wife's third pregnancy.

The jury deliberated for one hour before finding Carter guilty of first-degree murder and robbery on February 23.

[7] Carter's execution was initially scheduled to take place on October 15, 1954, but his appeals led to delays while federal appellate courts heard his arguments.

[6] Two days before Carter's execution, prison officials permitted him to see his mother, wife, and children, at which point he met his third child, then four years old, for the first time.

Carter's electrocution marked the first time Washington D.C. carried out an execution since that of convicted murderer Albert Allen on March 29, 1953, more than four years prior.

[7] The four-year gap between Albert Allen's execution and Carter's execution was by far the longest in D.C. history, denoting a slowdown in the pace of the death penalty's application in D.C..[8] In 1962, D.C. banned the practice of applying a mandatory death penalty for first-degree murder verdicts.

[10] In 1992, lawmakers attempted and failed to pass a referendum that proposed reinstating the death penalty in the district.