Daniel Robert Carter

Daniel Robert Carter

January 28, 1986 - McMinnville
September 20, 2004 - Bend

'Until we meet again,
always a brother, always a friend,
forever loved.'

Daniel Carter of McMinnville died September, 20, 2004 in a homicide. He was 18.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m., September 29, at Amazing Grace Bible Fellowship in Redmond.

A graveside service and burial will follow at 2:30 p.m., at the Terrebonne Cemetery.

Daniel was born January 28, 1986, in McMinnville, to James Cudaback and Sue Carter.

He was a graduate of Bend High School. He was a member of Amazing Grace Bible Fellowship.

His survivors include:

Parents, James Cudaback of Salem and Sue Carter of Portland

Brothers, Roy Carter of Redmond and Michael Carter of Prineville

Grandmother, Joanne Cudaback of Dayton.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daniel Carter Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of the Cascades.

Autumn Funeral Homes is in charge of arrangements.

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Judge denies bail to suspect in park killing
Indictments for murder, weapons violations expected next week

By Eric Flowers, The Bend Bulletin

Published: September 23. 2004

A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge ordered murder suspect Peter Thomas Phillips held without bail Wednesday afternoon pending a grand jury indictment, which is expected next week.

Phillips, 21, appeared in Judge Alta Brady's courtroom via a jail house video monitor on aggravated murder and weapons charges.

Phillips is accused of shooting and killing an acquaintance, Daniel Robert Carter, late Monday night on the footbridge that straddles the Deschutes River between Drake and Harmon parks in downtown Bend.

Police did not provide additional details about the suspect, victim or circumstances of the crime Wednesday and referred media to the Deschutes County District Attorney's office. District Attorney Mike Dugan is out of the office this week.

It is the second homicide in the popular downtown parks this summer.

Neighbor Ralph Wackerbarth lives just a few yards from where Carter was shot. His wife was up late writing thank-you notes and heard the gunshot Monday.

They watched police gather evidence at the scene in the middle of the night.

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Shooting victim had lived at local center for teens
By Lisa Rosetta, the Bend Bulletin

Published: September 24. 2004

Daniel Carter had stopped by Living Options for Teens, or LOFT, just a few days before he was shot in Drake Park, to chat with the staff he had befriended during his stay there 10 months ago.

"He said 'Hi,'" said Joe Hayes, program manager for the Cascade Youth and Family Center. "It seemed like things weren't as good as they were."

Carter, 18, who police say was allegedly shot by 21-year-old Peter Thomas Phillips on the footbridge between Drake and Harmon parks at midnight Monday, had a storied family history, Hayes said.

Citing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, Hayes said he could not disclose any more information about Carter's past.

The youths who call LOFT home range in age from 16 to 20. They've generally been kicked out of their own homes, cannot go home for another reason such as drug and alcohol abuse, or are too old for the state's foster care system, which turns kids loose on their 16th birthdays.

Carter, who police said did not have a known home address, was beginning to piece back together his life, Hayes said.

After Carter's two-and-a-half month stay at LOFT, which is housed in the Cascade Youth and Family Center on 14th Street, he left Bend and moved to Portland, where he had enrolled in a culinary school, Hayes said.

"He was a very likeable young man," Hayes said. "He was making positive strides in his life. What led to this, I don't even know if the police know.

"If he needed to be, he would have been welcomed back into our program," he said.

Carter was not enrolled as a student in the Bend-La Pine School District this year, Laurie Gould, district spokeswoman, told The Bulletin Wednesday.

Gould said she did not know if he was a past student in the district.

Phillips, who is charged with murder and two counts of carrying and using a dangerous weapon, is being held in the Deschutes County Jail without bail pending a grand jury indictment, which is expected next week.

Mary Anderson, a Deschutes County deputy district attorney assigned to the case, said a person who was with Phillips when the shooting occurred has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

"That person is assisting with the investigation at this point," said Anderson, who did not disclose the person's identity.

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Phillips gets 15 years for Drake Park shooting By Cindy Powers, The Bulletin

Published: February 23. 2006

Peter Thomas Phillips will spend the next 15 years in prison for gunning down a teen, he called his closest friend, in Drake Park after an all-day drinking binge in September 2004.

Phillips, 22, was sentenced Wednesday morning for the shooting death of Bend resident Daniel Robert Carter, under a plea agreement negotiated earlier this month. Originally charged with murder, Phillips entered an "Alford plea" on Feb. 8 to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful use of a firearm.

An Alford plea allows a defendant to plead guilty without admitting the facts giving rise to the charges.

Carter's family members called the court Wednesday and talked about their lost relative over a speakerphone.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't play things over in my head to figure out what happened and what I could have done to change things," said Roy Carter, the victim's brother. "It's something that I can never get over, whether he is sentenced to 15 years or 215 years, and I can't honestly say justice has been served."

Carter's father said he hoped Phillips would find remorse in jail and be a better man once released.

Phillips, of Bend, has a long history of alcohol abuse, according to his lawyer, Geoff Gokey. At an earlier hearing, Gokey argued that Phillips was so intoxicated the night of the murder that he remembered nothing.

"Whether you were extremely intoxicated or not, we have lost this young man," said Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Alta Brady, before handing down the sentence. "Your criminal history went from one DUII to manslaughter and I think, at this point, that you realize you have a serious alcohol problem and hope you will get help for that."

Under Oregon's mandatory sentencing law, Phillips will not be eligible for early release from prison, Brady said. He also will be subject to three years of post-prison supervision.

Before handing down the sentence, Brady asked Phillips if he had wanted to say anything, but he declined and stood silently.

Police say Phillips shot Carter in the head with a 9 mm handgun on the footbridge that straddles the Deschutes River between Drake and Harmon parks in downtown Bend on Sept. 20, 2004.

The day after the killing, Phillips told police he was there when Carter was shot but said an unknown stranger had committed the murder. Phillips later told police Carter was his closest friend and that he was to be Carter's best man at his wedding.

In an earlier hearing, a doctor testified that Phillips' blood alcohol content would have been about .30 when he was taken into custody around 1:30 a.m. on the morning after the shooting. The physician said he based that on a breath test given to Phillips at about 6 a.m. The test showed a blood alcohol content of .20, more than twice the legal limit for driving under the influence.

Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Mary Anderson gave credit for closing the case to the Bend Police Department.

"This case could have gone unsolved," Anderson said. "It was a difficult case and without the level of experience and the work they did we might not have been able to achieve this outcome."

Carter's death was the second homicide in Drake Park in 2004. In April of that year, 42-year-old Curtis Dean Kizer, of Bend, was stomped to death by a teenager.

Stephen Michael Withrow, a 19-year-old from Bend, was sentenced in April to 20 years in prison for Kizer's death.