An Illinois man faces up to 12 years in his girlfriend’s death, while a judge told lawyers Friday he had “more questions” on what happened.
Mike Lee, 23, of Riverdale, Ill. and formerly Griffith, pleaded guilty Friday to Level 4 felony unlawful possession of a firearm, Level 5 felony reckless homicide and an unrelated case for Level 6 felony fraud.
A sentencing hearing is Nov. 22.
Judge Salvador Vasquez would have to accept Lee’s latest plea.
Lee said he was “trying to fix” his AR pistol and thought it was unloaded, according to court documents. The gun went off, striking Toniesha Carter in the head. He strangled her two months earlier, records show.
Defense lawyer John Cantrell said when a gun jams, slamming it on a surface is also what cops do, as one testified earlier in the case. Vasquez asked Deputy Prosecutor Adam Martin Friday if that was what credibly happened. Martin said the shooting wasn’t his case.
“I do have more questions,” Vasquez said, noting they would come at a later hearing.
Cantrell said after the hearing that Vasquez rejected an Oct. 16 plea deal after saying the fraud case should not have been a misdemeanor.
Griffith police responded Dec. 30 to the 1000 block of East 35th Avenue.
A witness said she heard a gun go off. His girlfriend, Toniesha Carter, was found in the fetal position on the bed in a back bedroom. The gun was next to her. She was shot in the head.
A woman took Carter to her shift at Amazon at 6 a.m. that day, but she was sent home for showing up without safety shoes. The woman said they came back and went to sleep. Around 3 p.m., she woke up and Carter came into her room to get a phone charger.
Soon after, she heard a gunshot.
Lee came to the room and said he shot Carter in the head. At first, she didn’t believe he was serious, due to his tone. When the woman asked if she was breathing, he said no. He called the cops.
The couple had arguments but none that day, she said.
The gun was an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 multi-caliber pistol. Lee said they woke up around 1 p.m. and Carter made him food. She went to get a phone charger so he could watch a YouTube video to clear the gun.
He got one round out and thought it was empty. He bought the weapon the night before from “someone” in Illinois, the affidavit states.
In the Oct. 22, 2023 incident, Carter told police that Lee had strangled her at the same apartment.
She answered his phone and got into a heated argument with his child’s mother. After he refused to leave, Carter locked herself in the bedroom. He kicked the door open, forced her on a bed and strangled her, the affidavit states.
She declined treatment.
He was charged two days before the shooting with strangulation and misdemeanor domestic battery in that case.
mcolias@post-trib.com
