Grace Carter was killed by a stray bullet during a Tuesday night Bible study at Everlasting Life Holiness Church in Prichard, Alabama. Carter’s homicide is the third in Prichard since Christmas.
Prichard Police told a local CBS affiliate that they arrived on the scene shortly after 7 p.m. and began performing CPR on Carter. After an investigator noticed a bullet hole in the door of the church, the emergency medical services personnel began searching Carter for a bullet wound and discovered that she had been shot in the upper right chest.
Carter and her husband, Cecil Carter Sr., were longtime members of Everlasting Life Holiness Church, and Cecil is set to begin a pastorate at another church next month. According to Cecil, the Bible study group heard a loud pop, which the pastor of Everlasting Life, Joseph Simmons, thought came from a speaker. When Simmons looked toward Grace Carter, she was bleeding from the mouth. It was then that Simmons called 911.
Grace Carter was 65 years old. Cecil and Grace had been married for 35 years.
“It’s not safe in the church no more. People running around with guns and just shooting and carrying on with no regards. Stray bullet don’t know anybody,” Cecil told WPMI.
Speaking about his wife, Cecil said, “She would do anything she could for anyone. She’s a kind woman, and I believe she’s gone home to live with the Lord. I miss her. I love her.”
Prichard Police do not believe the shooter directly targeted Carter, but the investigation is ongoing. Mobile County Sheriff’s Office is assisting in the investigation.
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Four days earlier on Christmas Eve, 40-year-old Quincy Kemp was shot and killed in Prichard, and his girlfriend, Shanda Sashington, remains in critical condition from several gunshot wounds. A trumpet player for the Olympia and Port City brass bands, Kemp’s family described him as non-confrontational, saying, “If anyone tried to confront him or try to fight, he was always the type of guy to talk you out of it. He was just a great guy. He really was.”
Kemp’s family has expressed frustration with the investigative team, urging the police to release more information about the case.
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