21-year-old Kaleab Berhanu from Baltimore was convicted this week for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Carlos Rashard Carter of White Oak while he was asleep in his home on Easter Sunday last year.
A Montgomery County Circuit Court jury found Berhanu guilty on multiple charges, including first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, home invasion, conspiracy to commit home invasion, and firearm use in the commission of a felony.
The charges stemmed from an incident in the early morning hours of April 9, 2023, when Berhanu forcibly entered the victim’s family residence and shot the victim multiple times, resulting in their death.
Montgomery County Police officers responded after 3 a.m. on April 9 to a home in the 11800 block of Old Columbia Pike for a report of an injured person. Officers discovered Carter suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Charging documents state that Berhanu forcibly entered Carter’s residence through the back door and then shot him.
“This victim was asleep in his bed when he was attacked. He was shot multiple times as he attempted to escape the defendant and fell at the feet of his mother and siblings. We express our deepest condolences to the family, and we thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Peter Larson and Thea Zumwalt for seeing justice served in this matter,” State’s Attorney John McCarthy said in a Wednesday statement.
MoCo360 reported on Thursday that court documents allege Berhanu was previously involved in another shooting incident in 2021, where he allegedly shot Malachi Valentin, 20, of Silver Spring, who was a close friend of Carter. The shooting left Valentin paralyzed, and after he declined to cooperate with the investigation, the case was administratively closed due to lack of evidence.
According to the charging documents, Carter and Valentin were engaged in an “ongoing dispute” with Berhanu. A few weeks before Carter’s murder, he followed Berhanu, Berhanu’s girlfriend, and another associate in his car, informing Valentin about his actions. Valentin told police that he did not request Carter’s involvement and did not want him “to be involved in this.”
According to MoCo360, Berhanu’s attorney, Robert Bonsib, expressed his client’s disappointment with the verdict and plans to appeal. Berhanu faces a possible life sentence, with his sentencing scheduled for June 18.
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