Friends, Family of Convicted Killer Want To Stop Impending Execution

It is a horror few families ever face -- the execution of a loved one.

"Well, I pray a lot, and the Lord has given me the strength to deal with it," says Shirley Hill, Carter's mother.

"The police investigation was real shabby. There are a lot of questions here that we have as a family," says Faye Booker, Carter's cousin.

Carter's family joined death penalty opponents at the Capitol Monday to ask Governor Jim Hunt to stop the execution.

Daniel Pollitt, Hunt's former law professor at UNC, came to argue on Carter's behalf. He says because Carter defended himself at trial, he did not get a fair trial.

"The judge let this ninth-grade dropout defend his life in a complicated trial," he says.

Carter's supporters also point to the fact that Carter, who is black, was convicted by an all white jury.

"We wait, that's right, and pray and hope," says Bishop Gary Gloster. "That's one thing we've got a lot of, is hope."

Hunt says he is always open to hear anything anyone has something about the case. He has only commuted one death sentence as Governor, the death sentence of Wendell Flowers in December of 1999.