Teen returning to face murder charge

A 17-year-old Eastside teen wanted in the slaying of a Kirkland-area man during a home-invasion robbery has agreed to be brought back to Seattle from Minnesota. He was captured there last week; police said they found him in a friend's apartment, hiding under a bed and packing two loaded guns.

King County sheriff's homicide detectives yesterday returned from Hastings, Minn., where they had hoped to interview Daniel C. Carter about the Aug. 5 shooting, in which 39-year-old Robert Turner was killed at a home in the Finn Hill area outside Kirkland.

But Carter refused to talk, Minnesota authorities said. Detectives have, however, brought back the guns they say Carter had with him when he was taken into custody.

A Minnesota police task force, acting on a tip, arrested Carter last Wednesday in a small apartment in downtown Hastings. Carter struggled but didn't use his two guns, police said.

King County detectives say they don't know why Carter ended up in Hastings, a Mississippi River city of 17,000 about 40 miles outside Minneapolis, known best for the idyllic settings in movies such as "Grumpy Old Men."

Hastings police Lt. Joe Kegley said the man who rents the apartment apparently picked up Carter from the airport and allowed him to stay. The renter, a felon, may not have known Carter directly but may have been introduced to him by a friend, police said.

The renter may face charges for aiding a fugitive, police said. "I don't know if he realized who he (Carter) was," said Cmdr. Mike Scott of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office in Hastings.

Since his arrest, Carter has been bounced between the county jail and a juvenile-detention facility because authorities were unclear how to classify him. He has been charged as an adult in King County Superior Court with first-degree murder, but Minnesota law regards him as a juvenile.

"This is a pretty unusual event around here," Scott said.

Carter yesterday waived his right to an extradition hearing and likely will be returned to Seattle in the next week or so, where he will be held in the King County Jail with bail set at $2 million.

Prosecutors say Carter, along with Steven James Spruel, 18, barged into the Finn Hill home where Turner was visiting. Court documents allege Carter shot resident Kevin McElligott in the leg before turning the gun on Turner, shooting him in the head and stabbing him.

Police say Carter and Spruel have been tied to several other recent home invasions recently.

Spruel was captured by police a week after the slaying. He pleaded not guilty this week and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Ian Ith can be reached at 206- 464-2109 or iith@seattletimes.com.