Rochester man charged with murder found competent, no ruling on guilty plea withdrawals
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Oct. 29—The Rochester man charged in the death of a pregnant young mother and her toddler was ruled competent Thursday, but no decision was made as to if he would be allowed to withdraw his three guilty pleas.
Renard Carter, 30, pleaded guilty on July 15 in Olmsted County District Court to second-degree murder, second-degree murder with intent, and second-degree murder of an unborn child.
As part of the plea, Carter admitted that on Sept. 10, 2020, he strangled 2-year-old Miyona Zayla Lee-Miller and then tightened a phone charging cord around the neck of 23-year-old Keona Sade Foote, causing her to die. Portions of the incident were video recorded and posted on social media.
Foote was in the first trimester of a pregnancy at the time of her death. Foote and Miyona were found dead on Sept. 13, 2020, in their home at Olympik Village Apartments, at 402 31st St. NE, Rochester.
On Aug. 5, Carter filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas, asserting that he was "coerced into entering the guilty pleas," according to the supporting affidavit for the motion filed by Carter's attorneys. A competency evaluation of Carter was ordered later that same month.
On Thursday afternoon, Judge Lisa Hayne found Carter competent to proceed in the matter. Little else was said on the matter of competency until Carter was questioned by prosecutors. In the questioning, it was revealed that the examiner found that Carter was exaggerating or faking symptoms of mental illness and that he did not present with a genuine psychotic disorder or a dissociative identity disorder.
Carter's original attorneys, Lauri Traub and Samuel Schabel, later testified that they had no indication that Carter was having difficulty understanding and only became aware of potential competency issues when Carter raised them at the July 15 plea hearing.
For more than two hours, defense attorney Susan Elias and Chief Deputy Olmsted County Attorney Eric Woodford and Associate Olmsted County Attorney Michael DeBolt questioned Carter, Traub and Schabel on what occurred in their conversations about Carter's defense. Typically conversations between an individual and their attorney are confidential, but Carter waived the attorney-client privilege as the hearing began.
Throughout his testimony, Carter stated that he repeatedly told his attorneys he wanted to go to trial and that he did not understand the court proceedings.
"I just want a trial, want my plea to be withdrawn, want new attorneys from the outside, I feel like everything is too close," Carter said.
Traub testified that she and Schabel spoke with Carter about the fact that he could go to trial but Carter's indication was always that wanted to plead guilty.
"He always indicated he wanted to plead. That is what he always talked about from the very first time Sam Schabel met him, he wanted to plea," Traub said, adding that Carter wanted to get out of prison at some point in his life. "If he had said he wanted to go to trial, I would have gone to trial. I worked really hard to get my law license. I'm not going to lose it by declining to take someone's case to trial. If he had said it, I'd have done it."
The day Carter pleaded guilty, a grand jury was set to convene to hear evidence for charges of first-degree premeditated murder. The charge, which can only be brought via grand jury indictment, carries a mandatory life sentence in Minnesota.
A decision on whether Carter will be allowed to withdraw his guilty pleas is expected by mid-November.
