Judge To Decide Next Week Fate of Jason Mark Carter

A decision by 10th Circuit Court Judge Lawton McIntosh is anticipated by the end of next week as to whether or not Jason Mark Carter leaves the state mental health facilities for what’s called a community residential care facility.

Carter was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the bludgeoning homicides of his parents, mother Debbie and stepfather Kevin Perkins, at their home near Seneca. However, relatives of the victim agreed with Solicitor David Wagner that allowing Carter to move to what he likened to a half-way house could spell danger for the family and, possibly, the general public. Carter’s lack of acknowledgement that he was responsible was troublesome to Solicitor Wagner, as well as to psychiatrist Dr. Donna Schwartz Maddox, who testified Thursday as the state’s only witness…

Carter has been under treatment and care of the state’s Mental Health Department since the trial ended, and Dr. Michael Cross, a state psychiatrist, told the court that Carter has essentially plateaued in his treatment by the state, but added there had been some improvement in his psyche over the years.

In 2014, Carter made national headlines when he escaped from a mental hospital. He was picked up at a hotel in Fairview, TN, after police tracked the pings from his cellphone and spotted his vehicle in the parking lot. It was unclear how he escaped from the Craft Farrow State Hospital in Columbia, but police believe he stole a 1991 Chevy van and later somehow purchased a Chevy Lumina.

In the meantime, the judge wants to read written reports of doctors who’ve examined Carter, along with reading the statute of state law applicable to this case.