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Four Time Felon Kills 78-yr-old Woman In Her Home
The Buffalo News ^ | 11 05 05 | SANDRA TAN and GENE WARNER

Posted on 11/05/2005 8:38:24 AM PST by twas

Over her casket, mourners will talk about how they all tried to help Dolores C. Carr.

They'll talk about how her son tried, how her councilman tried, how the cops tried. They'll talk about how they'd outfitted her home with deadbolts and an alarm system, how her property had been cleared of tall shrubs that might hide the wicked-minded.

Everybody tried so hard.

But in the end, Carr, 78, died in violence and terror in the middle of the night, and nobody was there to save her.

Police say she died early this week at the hands of a four-time felon who had broken into her home several times over the course of the summer. Early Friday morning, police arrested Donald Washington, 42, and charged him with second-degree murder.

"If he did it, I hope he burns in hell because that old lady never bothered anybody," said neighbor Kenethia Lewis.

The residents of Domedion Avenue said Carr was an easy target because she was unfortunate enough to grow old and live alone after her children moved away and her husband died.

Despite the harassment she endured late in her life, she refused to leave the Schiller Park home where she had built a cherished life with her husband and two children.

For more than 40 years, Carr was a neighborhood fixture. Both she and her husband, Louie, worked hard much of their lives, drawing paychecks and raising their two children. Carr would wave to the neighbors, work on her backyard vegetable garden and hand out home-grown tomatoes to those who lived nearby.

Even after her husband died in 1998, she still tended her vegetable garden until this past summer, when she got too sick to bother.

Many of the newer residents on the street barely recall Carr. She had a reputation for being quiet, reclusive and increasingly frail. By the time she died, the 5-foot-6-inch woman weighed a mere 90 pounds.

"She was a nice lady," said one young neighbor. "They'd throw parties (next door) and she'd never complain about their music or anything."

She even picked up the trash and broken glass left in her neighbor's front yard afterward, he said.

Those who have lived in the neighborhood longer said Carr had begun getting a lot of harassment from "young punks" in the area, and initially they all assumed these kids were responsible for the multiple break-ins at her house over the summer.

"They got no guts," said one neighbor of the kids on the street. "They pick on some frail, old woman. They would go in her back yard, knock on her window, rap on her door, pull out her plants."

Carr's problems got worse over the summer. Her home was repeatedly burglarized. Lovejoy Council Member Richard A. Fontana said at one point that Carr woke up to find a hammer-wielding robber trying to put a pillow over her face. Her television and snowblower were taken.

She appealed to Fontana and the police for help. The cops promised to keep an eye on her home, and Fontana's office worked to clear her house of tall trees and shrubs.

Her son, David, also routinely came by to check on her, take care of the lawn and bring her groceries. Family members were so concerned for her safety that they had a burglar alarm installed on the house.

None of that stopped the killer from breaking into the house through a rear window.

Police said they believe Carr was killed at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. But Carr's son, David, recalled speaking with his mom on Monday night to remind her about an appointment she had scheduled later that week.

"Don't forget the doctor," he told her.

They never got the chance to speak again.

On Wednesday, David Carr found his mother tied up, beaten and strangled in her dining room. Her money, coin collection, watch and credit cards were missing.

The son looked ashen as he talked of how it's been since making the terrible discovery.

"Hard," he said.

Fontana posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Carr's killer. He said he believes the reward was a big reason why a neighbor stepped forward Thursday afternoon to assist the police. The tipster has made inquiries about the money, Fontana said.

Apparently, the suspect who's been arrested had been living next door, according to neighbors. Police said Donald Washington may have been alternating between his girlfriend's house on Domedion and a relative's house on St. Louis Avenue.

"Here's a four-time convicted felon," Police Commissioner Rocco J. Diina told reporters at a press conference Friday. "He shouldn't have been on the street."

Police officials outlined the series of events that led to Washington's arrest Thursday evening:

Late Thursday afternoon, a citizen approached Officer Robert Lee, who was at Carr's home. This neighborhood resident told the officer that Carr's I.D. and some of her valuables had been found in a neighborhood home. Police also learned Washington's name.

After the police issued a pickup order for Washington, another citizen called police on a cell phone to tell them he had spotted Washington at Genesee Street and Domedion.

Officers rushed there and stopped Washington on Humason Avenue, where he gave them a fake name. Asked to produce identification, he said he had to go home to get it. Then he ran into Schiller Park and dove into the pond.

After the police fished him out, Washington confessed to the crime, officials said.

Washington has been charged with second-degree murder and four burglary counts in connection with the summer break-ins at Carr's house and garage.

"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."

He's looking to get the tenants of that property evicted.

Washington's arrest may bring some measure of comfort to those who remember Dolores Carr.

When Washington was arrested, Fontana said, many people were waiting. Fontana was out on the street with Carr's children, David, 51, and Cindy, 47, of Nevada. The cops were there as well. They succeeded in catching a suspect; but no one had been able to save Carr.

Diina vowed to review the events surrounding the killing and the fact that apparently police didn't find anything amiss after checking the house when the burglar alarm went off. He also said how he wants this case to be resolved. "We hope to convict him and put him behind bars forever," the commissioner said.

A prayer vigil will be held in front of Carr's house at 6 p.m. today.

News staff reporter Maki Becker contributed to this story.

e-mail: stan@buffnews.com


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crime; newyork
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1 posted on 11/05/2005 8:38:25 AM PST by twas
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To: twas

Just terrible, prayers to the family.


2 posted on 11/05/2005 8:45:25 AM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: twas

But did they buy her a gun and teach her how to use it? A nice simple revolver.


3 posted on 11/05/2005 8:45:41 AM PST by garyhope
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To: twas

Diina vowed to review the events surrounding the killing and the fact that apparently police didn't find anything amiss after checking the house when the burglar alarm went off.

Interesting factoid buried near the end of the article.

4 posted on 11/05/2005 8:48:59 AM PST by elli1
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To: twas

Sickening.

The murderer should be publicly hung.


5 posted on 11/05/2005 8:49:52 AM PST by somniferum
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To: twas
None of that stopped the killer from breaking into the house through a rear window.

And the burglar alarm went off and the police looked around and... saw nothing? Then her son says he spoke with her (on the phone) a day later, after she supposedly was dead?

Cue Twilight Zone music.

6 posted on 11/05/2005 8:57:22 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: twas
None of that stopped the killer from breaking into the house through a rear window.

And the burglar alarm went off and the police looked around and... saw nothing? Then her son says he spoke with her (on the phone) a day later, after she supposedly was dead?

Cue Twilight Zone music.

7 posted on 11/05/2005 8:57:37 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck
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To: twas
It's terrible that she was not able to protect herself. Even in NY state, it's legal at home.


8 posted on 11/05/2005 8:59:09 AM PST by texasbluebell
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To: twas

A needle for the perp and bulldoze the neighborhood as punishment. Damn them all to hell.


9 posted on 11/05/2005 9:00:39 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("To the terrorists, the media is a vital force multiplier" Brig. Gen. Donald Alston (USAF) 10/31/05)
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To: twas

This story is among the sickest I've read in quite some time. Seems like every last rotten soul (of which there are evidently many) in this neighborhood targeted this frail, innocent old woman. Very disheartening.


10 posted on 11/05/2005 9:04:49 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: twas

Second degree murder? What would he have to have done to be charged with first degree murder?????

Very sad. She sounded like a nice lady.


11 posted on 11/05/2005 9:07:28 AM PST by TheSpottedOwl ("President Bush, start building that wall"!)
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To: twas
I want a real Three Strikes law. Anybody who has been convicted of three serious felonies is unfit to live among human beings and should be hanged.

For murderers, violent rapists, and child molesters, death on the first offense without exception.

-ccm

12 posted on 11/05/2005 9:08:00 AM PST by ccmay (Beware the fury of a patient man.)
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To: twas
On Wednesday, David Carr found his mother tied up, beaten and strangled in her dining room. Her money, coin collection, watch and credit cards were missing.

Sickening. The animal who did this should be burned at the stake.

13 posted on 11/05/2005 9:08:43 AM PST by Prince Charles
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To: twas
"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."

No, a four time looser on the street IS NOT the failure of citizens. It's a failure of the justice system that is SUPPOSED to protect the citizens from such animals.

Did the police arrest the kids who were vandalizing Mrs. Carr's home? Hell no.

Poor Mrs. Carr. Yes she was failed by her neighbors in part as far as the neighborhood vandals go, but the justice system killed Mrs. Carr with it's own hands.

"Don't own a gun folks. Guns are terrible things, but we can put a loaded fellon on the street with no problem at all."

14 posted on 11/05/2005 9:10:17 AM PST by DoughtyOne
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To: twas
"On Wednesday, David Carr found his mother tied up, beaten and strangled in her dining room. "

Quote from U.S. Supreme Court --

" Although the armed burglar would present a different situation, the fact that an unarmed suspect has broken into a dwelling at night does not automatically mean he is physically dangerous. "

Link to -- TENNESSEE v. GARNER, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)

The Supreme Court neglects to advise how a citizen can tell.

Justice O'Connor wrote the dissent -- Quote --" I cannot accept the majority's creation of a constitutional right to flight for burglary suspects [471 U.S. 1, 33] seeking to avoid capture at the scene of the crime. "

15 posted on 11/05/2005 9:10:20 AM PST by gatex (NRA, JPFO and Gun Owners of America)
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To: twas
These are the types of filth bags that The Former Twelfth Lady believes should be allowed to vote...just as long as they don't move into her lilly-white and breathtakingly wealthy Chappaqua neighborhood.
16 posted on 11/05/2005 9:11:09 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: twas
"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."

Is this satire?

17 posted on 11/05/2005 9:11:44 AM PST by joshhiggins
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To: twas
"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."

Nooooo. The true failure was letting a 4 time convicted felon back on the street. What happened to the 3 strikes rule?

18 posted on 11/05/2005 9:12:16 AM PST by LaineyDee (Don't mess with Texas wimmen!)
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To: TheSpottedOwl
Second degree murder? What would he have to have done to be charged with first degree murder?????

It would have been first degree if she had been a lesbian or if she was black and he was white.

19 posted on 11/05/2005 9:14:18 AM PST by Gay State Conservative
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To: twas

Sickening.


20 posted on 11/05/2005 9:40:16 AM PST by Gritty ("The Jihad never stops; the pretexts change." - Robert Spencer)
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