Contrary to media reports, St. Louis Alderman Chris Carter insists he has never committed domestic assault, faces no charges to that effect and continues to reside in the city’s 27th Ward, where he was elected to serve in 2008.
Carter’s problems started with a May 10 arrest by St. Louis County Police. He was stopped for expired tags and a missing front license plate, but taken in for questioning about an event on April 30.
On that date, Carter’s wife, Latosha Carter, called police about 11:20 a.m. to report that he had injured her during an argument at a home in the 4200 block of East Gulf Shore near Florissant, where her mother resides.
However, Carter said she recanted her claims while he was locked up on May 10. He said he has never struck his wife or any other woman, and his wife will not press charges or testify against him.
His wife did not call The American, as requested.
The St. Louis County counselor told The American the office is still reviewing the matter and had no comment. No charges had been issued as of press time on Wednesday, May 18.
News of Carter’s arrest spurred a call on May 12 for his resignation by Pamela Boyd, a committeewoman in the 27th Ward and Carter’s former opponent for alderman. Her call was immediately seconded by U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay.
Carter dismissed both calls, saying he has committed no crime and will face no charges.
Clay’s release included a vague reference to claims that Carter also does not live in his ward or even the city. A spokesperson for Clay did not answer a question about Clay’s source for that claim. Carter said his residency was questioned on Twitter by Post-Dispatch reporter Nicholas J.C. Pistor. Carter also said he had seen Pistor repeatedly in City Hall, yet Pistor never asked him about the residency issue.
Carter invited The American to the home he is selling on North Pointe Boulevard and the home he is moving into on Pamplin Avenue, both in the 27th Ward.
Carter pointed out that his legal name is Willie Christopher Carter III. While his grandfather and father, with very similar names, own property all over the state, Carter said, he has never owned property in St. Louis County and does not live there.
Carter said he and his wife have been separated for three months, but he has lived in the city the entire time. He accused Clay of manufacturing the residency claim in an attempt to hurt him politically when he was in the news for the arrest.
“Lacy wants to hurt me because I am the only one who will stand up to him,” Carter said. “I have no problem putting him in his place.”
Carter mentioned a dispute he and Clay had when Clay was stumping for Joshua Peters in the 27th Ward during Peter’s successful 2013 campaign for state representative in the area, Missouri’s 76th House District.
Carter’s grandmother, the late Paula J. Carter, served as committeewoman, state representative and state senator in the area. Carter himself served as state representative in the district before his uncle Gregory Carter, then 27th Ward alderman, died in a car crash in 2012. At that time, Chris Carter resigned from the House and won a special election as alderman. His father, Willie Christopher Carter II, also known as Chris Carter, lost to Peters in the special election to take the open House seat.
More recently, on March 19, Clay came to a 27th Ward meeting hosted by Carter, where state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal was scheduled to speak. Chappelle-Nadal is running against Clay in the August 2 Democratic primary. Carter said Clay left incensed when he was not put on the agenda to speak because he arrived unannounced.
Through a spokesperson, Clay merely said he stands by his claims.
