A viral Texas rapper is claiming his innocence after being accused of kidnapping a pregnant girl and preserving her locked in his storage.
Lee Carter, 52, higher identified by the stage title Viper, was charged final week with kidnapping after Houston police discovered a girl inside his storage who claimed that he had held her there for years, in response to a grievance obtained by HuffPost.
George Powell, Carter’s lawyer, advised CNN a special story, claiming that the 2 had been in a consensual relationship collectively and share a 3-year-old youngster.
Powell advised the outlet that witnesses who know the pair “will have ample evidence to demonstrate that … they’ve been in a relationship for years.”
According to the grievance, the girl was rescued in April 2023 after managing to ship a message to police dispatch on Carter’s laptop computer.
When police arrived at Carter’s house, they discovered the girl weighing 70 kilos and allegedly locked contained in the storage. The storage was furnished with a makeshift rest room and a mattress lined in contemporary vomit, in response to the grievance.
The girl advised officers that Carter approached her years in the past to offer her $1 when she was pregnant and panhandling on the road. Carter later returned to ask if she wanted assist earlier than telling her to get in his automotive and, “against her better judgement,” the girl mentioned she left with him, in response to the grievance.
The girl advised officers that Carter repeatedly pressured her to do medicine, together with crack cocaine, and have intercourse with him. During this time she was solely fed “chips and snacks,” the grievance mentioned.
The girl recalled one occasion the place she tried to flee when police and hearth division personnel had been known as to Carter’s house, however she was taken to a hospital as a substitute the place Carter picked her up, the grievance mentioned.
According to NBC News, two months after the girl was rescued from the home, one other girl was discovered useless there. Catherine Roberts, 61, was reportedly found inside Carter’s Houston house on July 5.
Jedediah Beights, Carter’s neighbor, advised NBC News that Roberts was residing in the identical storage that held the primary girl.
“Roberts died from alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C, complicated by internal bleeding,” NBC News reported, citing medical expert information.
Houston police advised the outlet that Roberts’ demise is just not linked to the kidnapping investigation and that Carter is just not dealing with prices for it.
After he was accused of kidnapping, Carter denied the allegations towards him, claiming in a number of social media posts that he’s harmless.
He additionally mentioned he had solely lived within the Houston house for 13 months. According to company information, Carter owns and operates a shifting firm registered to the deal with the place police discovered the girl.
As Viper, Carter has amassed tens of millions of streams on-line and averages greater than 50,000 month-to-month listeners on Spotify.
In a assertion posted on social media, Outsider Records, a label related to Carter’s Viper persona, mentioned that it was “lost for words” amid the allegations towards him. The label added that it might finish all contact with Carter.
“I want to say I had no knowledge or involvement in what he was doing,” the assertion learn.
It continued by saying that Outsider Records would shut down completely after processing purchases and refunds.
“I originally planned for Viper to not receive any money from sales unless he was found innocent, but due to possible legal threats I will pay him his cut at the end of this month,” learn a separate assertion on the label’s web site, including that a few of the cash from gross sales would even be donated “to either the victim or charity.”
Carter is ready to look in court docket Feb.13, and his legal professional mentioned that he’ll plead not responsible. Powell and a spokesperson for Outsider Records didn’t instantly reply to HuffPost’s requests for remark.
