Shell casings were enough for detective to find suspect in Alta Vista Drive shooting

A veteran Columbus police detective arriving at a deadly Alta Vista Drive shooting found only a handful of shell casings there, but they became key clues in the case.

For his efforts, police Cpl. Stuart Carter was named the Columbus Police Department’s Officer of the Month for June 2018.

The lead detective in the homicide investigation gave credit to a team effort, with many officers gathering the information needed to identify suspects in the shooting death of 74-year-old William Meadows, found dead in his car on April 29.

“Obviously, it’s an honorable experience to be nominated from the command staff,” Carter said. “I know that they can only recognize a single person, but in our homicide cases , it is a collaborative effort. You can’t recognize every single person but it’s a team effort.”

While sitting in his vehicle parked in the open garage, Meadows was hit with a bullet fired through the rear window. In the street, detectives found 9mm shell casings 25 to 40 yards from Meadows’ home.

Neighbors recalled hearing gunfire and bullets hitting trees the day before, but they could not describe a suspect’s vehicle. Detectives believed a car had been traveling down Alta Vista Drive while an occupant randomly fired a pistol as Meadows was struck.

Police Lt. Greg Touchberry, Carter’s supervisor, said Carter seemed to embrace the challenge, and developed a strategy to pinpoint any vehicles that might have been involved.

The strategy led to a Kia Soul and a Hyundai Veloster. The investigation also uncovered names of the Veloster’s occupants, some of whom admitted they were on Alta Vista Drive when one fired the pistol.

”We went back and looked at surveillance cameras, and there we were able to narrow down to a particular vehicle, which was a huge lead for us,” Carter said. “We ended up discovering the identity of people that had possession of the car, and that led to identifying some of the suspects involved in the case.”

His effort led to felony murder charges. “His dogged determination and steadfast refusal to ever call an investigation hopeless can be observed in every experience that he undertakes,” Touchberry said.

Carter noted that Meadows was a true victim in the case. “He wasn’t looking for trouble,” he said. “Basically trouble came looking for him. He was just sitting at home in a car, a retired gentlemen who serve his country in the military. It’s a tragedy.”

Carter has 32 years of service and has been honored seven or eight times during his career. He said he still has time left for more cases. “They don’t come that often,” he said of the honors. “ When it does happen, it’s nice to be recognized like that.”

Along with Carter, civilian employee Kimberley Myhand was recognized for processing open records requests from people with questions about cases, and for assisting other staffers. Myhand said she processes 150 to 200 requests per month and completes each within the deadline to comply with state law. “I make sure I always meet my deadline,” she said.

She was proud to be recognized. “It made me happy,” she said.

This story was originally published July 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM.