By TEREASA NIMS
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – The 23-year-old Detroit man charged with allegedly shooting another man in an entertainment center in February is due back in court April 1.
Lamar Alexander Carter is set for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. before 24th District Court Judge John Courtright. Carter is charged with first-degree murder, felony firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon in the Feb. 13 shooting death of Sean Lawrence Key, 44 of Detroit, at Play Atlantis, 19400 Allen Road.
Carter remains jailed without bond in the Wayne County Jail. He was arraigned Feb. 13, after turning himself in to police in Oxford, Ala.
Police Lt. John Allen said the men didn’t know each other. Both were there taking part in birthday parties for different children. Fights broke out, according to surveillance video. Carter then reportedly went to a car and returned with a gun, shot Key and fled the center.
Investigators quickly identified Carter as the shooter and enlisted U.S. Marshals to help find him. Authorities believe Carter stayed in the area until taking a bus to Oxford, where he arrived shortly before Feb. 25, and turned himself in. He went into a Quiznos restaurant and asked an employee to call 911 to have police come and get him.
Allen said witnesses said Key said something to the shooter to put the focus on him and away from the children and adults around him. The shooter shot Key once in the head, killing him instantly, then fled.
Allen deems Key “a hero.”
(Tereasa Nims can be reached at [email protected])