Guilty verdict returned in slaying

Wednesday, April 23, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

A jury on Tuesday convicted a Las Vegas man of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend nearly five years ago.

Jurors found Lee Carter guilty of the 1998 killing of Brenda James, 29, at her Mount Royal Court residence.

In addition to the murder charge, Carter was also convicted of burglary and home invasion.

A penalty hearing in the case was expected to begin this morning, in which Carter, 34, faces the death penalty. Public Defender Howard Brooks said he plans to appeal the verdict.

James' relatives packed the courtroom for the reading of the verdict.

"I'm glad it turned out the way it did," said James' brother, Gene James. "He got what he deserved. He was guilty."

During the trial, prosecutors alleged Carter was obsessed with James and became angry when she began seeing another man.

She was shot several times in front of 10 children who were at the house. Four of the children were Carter's.

While defense attorneys didn't contest the fact that Carter killed James, they said the slaying wasn't premeditated and it did not constitute a first-degree murder.

Brooks said his client has no history of violence.

"He killed the woman he thought he would lose," he said. "It was a momentary, unplanned killing. He just snapped."