Paul Carter / Family Photo
BY EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago
Paul “Pootie” Carter could often be found playing basketball with neighborhood children in Austin neighborhood parks, a friend said.
Carter, 32, was fatally stabbed March 18 during a possible home invasion at his residence in the 5000 block of West Gladys Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, authorities said.
“I really don’t know what drove those boys to do that to him,” said longtime friend Sade Harris. “He wasn’t a drug dealer. He didn’t get involved with altercations.”
Court records indicate Carter was convicted for a 2008 drug possession charge and sentenced to probation and community service.
Harris and Carter grew up in the Austin neighborhood together. As an adult, Carter had one son and was very close to his mother.
“He was the type of person, if you asked him for anything and he had it, he’d give it to you,” Harris said. “I’ve seen him give money to homeless people, drug addicts.”
Carter liked playing basketball in the park and coaching neighborhood children, Harris said. If he saw a group of youths on the basketball court, he’d get out there to play with them.
Carter is one of 13 people murdered in the Austin community in 2014.
“There’s just so much going on right now on the West Side of Chicago,” Harris said. “People I know are coming up dead left and right.”
Harris said five people she knew were murdered in Austin during May alone and now she’s scared for her own life. Harris believes more needs to be done to stop the violence in her community.
“These streets need help…they need to bring in the National Guard for a little while or something,” Harris said. “What they think is going on here, is way past, way beyond … like, we can’t even take our kids to the park. These people are literally out here killing each other. The way I feel, I feel that we’re living our last days.”
Nobody has been charged in the killing of Paul Carter. Area North detectives are investigating.