A man arrested for an Easter morning murder in Silver Spring was “hunting his former friends," a prosecutor said in court on Friday.
The victim was Carlos Carter, 20, who was supposed to start a new job the next day.
Detectives linked the murder to another shooting that left a man paralyzed, according to court documents.
Charging documents say a man who was shot and paralyzed 17 months before Carter's murder came forward and said he knew who shot him but kept quiet because he didn’t want to be labeled a “snitch."
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But after hearing his friend Carter had been killed, the man decided to speak up.
In the court affidavit Montgomery County Police say cell phone records and ballistic evidence tie Kalaeb Berhanu to the murder. They also say there had been an on-going dispute between the two.
The morning of the shooting police say Berhanu — wearing a mask — smashed through the sliding doors of Carter's home on Old Columbia Pike and broke down the door to his bedroom.
Carter was able to make it upstairs and outside the house, where his mother found him. When police arrived, they thought Carter may have shot himself.
In Ring video provided by the family, police officers are heard talking with Carter's mother, asking if he shot himself.
Weeks before Carter was murdered, court records say Berhanu pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to a year in jail but the judge suspended the entire sentence and he was free to go.
Carter's mother also took issue with the time it took to get paramedics on the scene the morning of her son's murder. A timeline provided by Montgomery County Fire and Rescue showed it took as long as 16 minutes to arrive from the time of dispatch.
Part of that time paramedics were told to stage until the scene was secure, which is standard protocol at crime scenes.
In a statement provided to News4, Carter's mother said:
“I’m very happy but still at a loss for words. This will never bring my son back but at least this animal is off of the streets. I will not be content until justice is served. I'm very grateful to the detectives working the case for their response time.”
In addition to the murder charge, Berhanu also faces charges in connection with the 2021 shooting that left a man paralyzed.
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