By Natalia Claburn
SACRAMENTO, CA – Starletta Carter was charged with two counts of assault and one count of unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm after attacking Molly* and Molly’s friend Josh* in the middle of the night while they were staying in a friend’s apartment, according to testimony here in Sacramento County Superior Court last Thursday. *Names changed for anonymity
Deputy Adam Womack testified as a witness on behalf of the people in this preliminary hearing. Womack stated that on Nov. 7, 2020, at approximately 3 a.m., he and his partner were dispatched to an apartment complex where they met Molly, the victim who had called 911, outside of the apartment building.
Womack said that when he spoke to Molly, she claimed “a black female adult came into the room with a gun and pointed it at her” after she and Josh awoke because they heard Carter entering the apartment.
While Carter’s relationship with the person who owned the apartment was unclear, Josh explained that he saw that “Carter had a key to the apartment” which is how she got inside. 
Josh also told Womack that Carter “was upset and when she came inside, turned the lights on and…was holding a gun by her side.” Contradicting Molly’s recollection, Josh claimed that Carter “did not point [the gun] or threaten anyone with it.”
Josh continued, saying that despite Carter not aiming the firearm at him or Molly, Carter did rack the gun which is when “ammunition is ejected through the port of the gun.” Josh believed Carter racked the firearm to scare Molly and himself, according to the testimony of the deputy.
Carter claimed to have brought the gun into the apartment to “put it away” but when she turned the lights on, she found Molly and Josh “in a bed together and they argued but [Carter] did not point or rack the gun” from Josh’s recollection.
Once the incident deescalated, Molly “smoked a cigarette outside of the apartment complex while she waited for the police.” It was unclear what Josh and Carter were doing at this time, said the deputy.
After hearing Molly and Josh’s witness testimonies at the scene of the crime, Womack explained that he and his partner searched the apartment where it appeared that Carter resided where they found a “black Glock with one round [of ammunition] in the chamber.”
Womack also clarified that “live rounds of ammunition were found in the defendant’s jean pockets” when she was also searched after the incident. The defendant told Womack that “she carries a firearm with her and it’s registered to her”, which was later confirmed to be true.
However, in the eyes of the law, the gun was still brought up to the apartment. Despite the firearm being lawfully registered to Carter, it was a concealed weapon in a public place that had ammunition in it, therefore making it a crime, the deputy said.
Deputy Womack said Josh was not “forthcoming” when answering questions about the incident until Carter was in a police squad car.
When questioning Womack during this hearing, court-appointed attorney David Grow reminded Judge Geoffrey Goodman that there was “no information to suggest the defendant knew the victims were in the apartment.”
However, Deputy District Attorney Douglas Caballeros asked about the manner of Molly when Womack first came up to her. The deputy said that “she obviously seemed worked up and a little nervous.”
Molly also told Womack that when the defendant walked in, “she was afraid she was going to die.”
After hearing Womack’s testimony recounting his interviews with Molly and Josh, Judge Goodman decided that there was “sufficient cause to believe the defendant to be guilty.”
Further court proceedings for this case will include a trial readiness conference on Nov. 10, and a jury trial on Nov. 15.
*Names changed for anonymity
