FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Case # 15NF1732

MAN CONVICTED OF SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES STABBING-MURDER OF WIFE AND THEIR INFANT SON

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A man was convicted today of the special circumstances stabbing-murder of his wife and their infant son. Kwame Adom Carpenter, 27, Anaheim, was found guilty by a jury on Feb. 26, 2019, of two felony counts of murder with special circumstances for committing multiple murders and a sentencing enhancement allegation for the personal use of a deadly weapon. He faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Carpenter is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26, 2019, at 9:00 a.m., in Department C-45, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

At the time of the crime, Carpenter and 24-year-old Moureen Gathua-Carpenter were living together with their 6-month-old son, Kyan Gathua-Carpenter, in an Anaheim apartment.

At approximately 12:00 p.m. on June 22, 2015, Carpenter got into a verbal argument with Moureen in their apartment. During the course of the argument, Moureen picked up Kyan, and the defendant stabbed both of the victims with a butcher knife. The defendant is accused of fleeing the scene in a relative’s car.

The Anaheim Police Department (APD), who investigated this case, responded to a 911 call and found both victims suffering from stab wounds.

Moureen was pronounced dead at the scene. Kyan was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died.

At approximately 3:00 a.m. on June 23, 2015, Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) officers located the defendant sleeping in the back seat of the car in the parking lot of Fountain Valley Regional Hospital. The defendant drove away from SAPD officers. An SAPD officer fired a single shot, but did not hit the defendant. Carpenter led SAPD and Fountain Valley Police Department (FVPD) officers on a vehicle pursuit.

He crashed the vehicle in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley and jumped into a nearby lake. APD arrived at the scene and arrested the defendant, and he was then transported to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained from an FVPD K-9 bite during his arrest.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.