WOODLAND — The trial for a Sacramento man accused of sexually assaulting and killing his daughter in Winters has been postponed for two months at the request of his defense attorney.
Meanwhile, Markeese Leavell Carter has a new criminal case pending after allegedly throwing fecal matter and urine last month at two Yolo County Jail correctional officers who were attempting to handcuff him in order to provide medical treatment.
“This action is referred to as ‘gassing,’ ” Yolo County sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Davis said of the March 20 incident, which resulted in a new felony charge of battery by gassing, Yolo Superior Court records show.
A preliminary hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Carter has been in jail custody since Nov. 19, when rescue personnel found the lifeless body of his 4-year-old daughter, Aminatu-Amaya Abdul-Raafi, in Putah Creek near Winters.
His court proceedings were stalled earlier this year when his public defender, Ron Johnson, declared a doubt regarding Carter’s mental competency to stand trial. A psychologist’s evaluation concluded he understood the nature of the legal proceedings and could assist in preparing his defense.
A three-week trial on charges of murder, resisting arrest and sexual abuse of a child under age 10, previously scheduled to begin April 16, is now set for June 11.
Carter was not present during the brief court hearing because he was “not doing well” in the courthouse’s inmate holding area, Johnson told Judge Paul Richardson.
Carter’s family claims he suffers from mental-health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from a stint in the National Guard.
The 26-year-old is alleged to have drugged, sexually assaulted and drowned his daughter, according to testimony offered at his December preliminary hearing, where a Yolo County sheriff’s detective said Carter confessed to the crimes.
According to Detective Juan Ceja, Carter believed the girl was not his biological child, but rather that of a friend he suspected of having an affair with his wife. That led to an argument between the couple, after which Carter took Amaya and her younger sister to visit his mother at the El Rio Villas housing complex near Winters.
When the pills failed to kill her, however, Carter changed his plan and threw Amaya into the creek, telling relatives she had wandered away from him and fallen into the water, Ceja said.
Carter remains on a no-bail hold at the Yolo County Jail.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
