SPOKANE, Wash. — The Airway Heights man accused of shooting his wife and stepdaughter spoke with KREM 2 ahead of his court appearance Monday afternoon
Zion Carter is charged with two counts of attempted murder. He was on the run for two days before turning himself into the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. His bond is set at $1.5 million.
Carter said he only agreed to speak with KREM 2’s Amanda Roley in order to share his concerns with mental health resources, something he says was not made available to him and his wife when they sought this out.
“You know, just dealing with life, you know, life is, you know, on the outside looking in, it may, it may look a certain way to people, when we were dealing with stuff, we needed help. And we reached out, we sought help, but because of lack of resources, we had to wait to be seen,” he said.
He said they were supposed to talk with someone last Friday. Carter and his wife have been married for two months.
Carter was remorseful but avoided explaining why and if he was guilty of shooting his wife and stepdaughter.
“I was the opposite of those who hurt her before,” he said. “I was the opposite. And people praise me for being different. The family or the kids. They loved me because I was different. Because I treated them different. But now I'm just like the ones who hurt her before. But never. I've never put my hands on my wife never called her names.”
Carter said he does not remember what happened the night his wife and stepdaughter were shot.
“That morning, all I know is I woke up that morning,” Carter said “And we were all as a family. We were figuring it out. We had our issues. But we were figuring it out.”
After the shooting, Carter ended up in Tacoma where his family lives. He did not say if he saw them. Carter eventually turned himself in at the Pierce County Sheriff’s office.
“I just want to use you guys’ platform just to urge the public not to be so quick to judge,” he said.
He avoided answering whether he is guilty of the attempted murder charges against him. Instead, he told KREM he will get his day in court.