NEW BOSTON, Texas–Charles Jerome Carter, 32, was sentenced to life in prison Friday for taking the life of 29-year-old Nichlos Muldrow in a January 2021 shooting at the Oaklawn Shopping Center in Texarkana, Texas.
A Bowie County jury found Carter guilty Thursday evening and Friday they returned to the courthouse in New Boston to determine the punishment he should receive in the range of five to 99 years or life in prison. Carter received the maximum.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter (no relation to Charles Carter), told TXK Today that the life sentence “will allow Nick’s family to close this chapter in their grieving process.”
“With the assistance of Texarkana Texas Police Department, Texarkana Arkansas Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Arkansas State Crime Lab, the medical examiner, and citizens of Bowie County–both as witnesses and as members of the jury–the family of Nick Muldrow has finally received the justice they have been seeking,” Katie Carter said. “Their healing process can truly start today knowing that the individual responsible for Nick’s death has been held accountable.”
Muldrow was hit in the leg and chest while sitting behind the wheel of a 2004 Cadillac in the parking lot of Harbor Freight, a hardware store in the shopping center located in the 2700 block of New Boston Road in Texarkana, Texas, according to a probable cause affidavit. Muldrow tried to drive away after being struck by bullets but his car hit a tree in the parking lot of a nearby Whataburger after he lost consciousness.
He died of his wounds at a local hospital.
The two men had argued before the gunplay began. Investigators with the Texarkana Texas Police Department used video surveillance, a cell phone left at the scene and other clues to identify Carter as their suspect.
He is currently being held in the Bowie County jail awaiting transport to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter represented the state. Charles Carter was represented at trial by Michael Bernoudy Jr. of the Bernoudy Law Firm. Judge Bill Miller of the Fifth District of Texas presided over the case.
