A 24-year-old man has been booked on suspicion of murder in connection with the killings of his “common law” wife and their 6- month-old son in Anaheim.
Kwame Carpenter was initially sought as a person of interest in the killings. He was taken into custody after a wild escape attempt in which he drove his car into a police vehicle, prompting an officer to fire two rounds.
Carpenter was being held without bail Wednesday at the Anaheim Police Department’s Temporary Detention Facility, Anaheim Police Department Lt. Eric Trapp said.
Carpenter was not hit during his attempted escape early Tuesday, but did drive his car into another vehicle before taking off. After a brief car chase, he ran from his vehicle into a park and then into a small lake. A police dog ran after him and the man was taken into custody after being bitten.
Carpenter was located after a security guard at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital saw a man and car matching the description of the wanted man and his vehicle about 3:30 a.m., Tuesday. The guard notified a Santa Ana police officer who was at the hospital on an unrelated matter, said Fountain Valley Police Lt. Rob Sweaza.
“The Santa Ana officer, in conjunction with Fountain Valley officers, went to the location on the southeast portion of the hospital campus and contacted Carpenter, who was inside his parked 2001 Lincoln Town Car,” Sweaza said.
“When officers attempted to take Carpenter into custody, he refused to surrender and drove his car into a Santa Ana police car, damaging it,” Sweaza said.
Carpenter then allegedly crashed the Lincoln into another vehicle and kept going.
“At that point a Fountain Valley officer fired two rounds at Carpenter as he fled the scene in his car,” Sweaza said. “No one was injured as a result of the shooting.”
Officers chased the car north on Euclid Street where Carpenter abandoned the vehicle and ran into Mile Square Park “and into a small lake on the northeast corner of the park,” Sweaza said.
A Fountain Valley officer’s police service dog followed Carpenter into the lake and bit the suspect, who was then taken into custody, Sweaza said.
The attack on the mother and child — identified by the coroner as Moureen Gathua-Carpenter and son Kyan Gathua-Carpenter — occurred in an apartment at 2648 W. Ball Road, Trapp said. Police were dispatched to the location at 12:10 p.m. Monday on a “felony assault in progress” call, Trapp said.
The victims reportedly were stabbed, but investigators have not confirmed how they died.
Carpenter pleaded guilty along with Moureen Gathua-Carpenter in an identity theft case in October 2013. He admitted four counts of using another’s credit card and one count of receiving stolen property, all misdemeanors, and was sentenced to three years of informal probation and 56 days of public service, according to court records.
Gathua-Carpenter pleaded guilty Aug. 20, 2013, to two counts of theft, four counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and two counts of acquiring access cards using different names, all misdemeanors. She was sentenced to three years of informal probation and 84 days of public service in lieu of jail, according to court records.
—Staff and wire reports