TRENTON >> One of Paris France Way’s friends said his friend liked women, “probably to a fault.” Way’s way with women appears to have led to his death.
His girlfriend, Charlotte Carman, 38, of Trenton, apparently lashed out at him in the early-morning hours of May 31, stabbing him four times near the intersection of Sherman and St. Joes when she discovered he had been out with another woman, officials said.
She then slashed the tires of his Hyundai Sonata, returned to where he was laying in the street, stabbed him once more and spat on him, First Assistant Prosecutor Tom Meidt said. Prosecutors revealed at a bail hearing Friday this all happened as Way’s mistress watched in horror.
While the stabbing was not captured by a patchwork of surveillance from city businesses, Meidt said, footage shows Carman slashing Way’s tires, apparently with the same bloodied knife she had just used to stab Way.
Meidt said investigators encountered a blood trail that led from the victim to his car.
In addition to witnesses identifying Carman as the assailant, prosecutors said Carman confessed to stabbing Way to multiple people, including her pastor as well as police. She is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, weapons offenses and criminal mischief.
Carman is accused of taking Way’s cellphone and $180 from his pocket, leading to the robbery and felony murder charges. She was charged with criminal mischief because she slashed his car tires, prosecutors said.
Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta maintained Carman’s bail at $770,000 after hearing from prosecutors, who labeled the woman a flight risk.
Following the murder, Carman was arrested by members of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force in New Brunswick, where authorities say she had fled.
Carman’s attorney, Kathleen Redpath-Perez, disputed that accusation, saying her client has three daughters in New Brunswick and was there visiting them.
Redpath-Perez hinted she or whoever is assigned Carman’s case may put on a self-defense case and that her client was in the “fight for her life” after Way reportedly struck her with a grocery bag containing a 2-liter plastic soda bottle.
While Redpath-Perez did not say her client was a battered woman, she said she was involved in a “domestic violence relationship” with Way. She did not say what evidence she plans to put on to support her contention.
Carman has prior convictions for resisting arrest and a felony conviction for child abuse from 2004. She served 18 months in state prison on the resisting charge, which appeared to have been downgraded from an escape charge, prosecutors said.
Carman, who has six children – all who are being cared for by relatives –received a probationary sentence on the child abuse conviction.
Way left behind four sons of his own, his friend Johnathan Nealy, told The Trentonian.
“He liked women, probably to a fault, but he was a really good guy and would give you the shirt off of his back,” Nealy said. “He wasn’t perfect, and no one is, but he by no means deserved what happened to him. I’ve watched him mature into a grown man with responsibilities, and I always wanted the best for him. I knew that I could always depend on him if I needed something.”