Man who murdered girlfriend in 2014 is now charged with contract killing of his wife in Dale City

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A Prince William County grand jury has indicted a 34-year-old man convicted of murdering his high school sweetheart in the ambush-style contract killing of his wife in Dale City a decade ago.

In both cases, the victims were found in their cars with gunshot wounds.

Lionel Melvin Carter III, 34, is accused of orchestrating the Feb. 2 shooting death of 23-year-old Egypt Zapporah Carter of Burlington, N.C., in the parking lot of the Orchard Mills apartment complex in Dale City, Prince William County police Lt . Jonathan Perok said in a press release.

The grand jury indicted Carter and three other men, including two previously arrested in the case, on aggravated murder and other charges, Perok said.

Police said their investigation revealed that Carter hired three men to kill his wife. He allegedly planned the murder while serving a 30-year sentence at Sussex State Prison in Waverly for the 2014 murder of his former girlfriend.

“The victim was reportedly lured to the area of ​​Bronson Court and Brickwood Drive … with the ruse of allegedly obtaining prescription narcotics for her husband,” Perok said. “Instead, the victim was ambushed and killed.”

The other men charged Monday include Denzel Scott Wade, 30, and Drew Courtney Buchanan, 27, both of Woodbridge, and Grorethas Gresean McKinnon Jr., 26, also incarcerated by the Virginia Department of Corrections, said Perok. Carter, Wade and McKinnon were all charged with aggravated murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied vehicle and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Buchanan is charged with aggravated murder and conspiracy to commit a felony, Perok said.

All are in custody. Carter’s release date from prison is 2049 as he faces charges related to the death of his girlfriend in January 2014. It is unclear how and when he met and married his wife.

In the 2014 case, Carter was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his high school girlfriend, 19-year-old Kadijah Stewart, in Chesterfield, WWBT 12 in Richmond reported at the time. She was found shot to death in her car at an apartment complex.