FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Katelyn Markham’s father said he’s still in shock following John Carter’s plea deal with prosecutors Friday.
Carter, 36, pleaded guilty to causing the death of his fiance in 2011, just two weeks before his murder trial was set to begin.
Dave Markham, Katelyn’s dad, said he felt “a little bit of relief,” but was shaking as he listened to the guilty plea.
“I was so, so mad,” Dave Markham said.
Markham was days away from her 22nd birthday when she vanished in August 2011 from her Fairfield townhouse. Her skeletal remains were found on April 7, 2013, in a remote wooded area in Indiana about 30 miles from her home.
Her death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death has not been determined.
“I wasn't shocked that there was a plea,” Markham said. “I was shocked at how little it carries.”
The maximum sentence is 36 months in prison. Carter's attorneys told WCPO 9 that by him pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter, he's admitting to accidentally causing Markham's death while he was committing a misdemeanor assault and she died. The attorneys did not specify the type of misdemeanor assault.
Markham said he’s waiting for the sentencing in July.
“God forbid he doesn’t get anything but three year,” he said. “If he doesn’t get time, then I’m not going to feel like there’s justice."
Debbie Estes’ son, William “Billy” DiSilvestro, went missing a few months before Katelyn. Family, friends and community members gathered Saturday in honor of Katelyn, and Estes left a note of frustration on a poster.
“For Dave to have to go through this now is so unfair,” she wrote.
“I don’t think you ever have closure when something so horrific happens,” Estes said. “It ain’t like somebody passing away. Somebody took her.”
Those in attendance kept Katelyn’s memory alive Saturday afternoon at Creekside Park in Fairfield.
“I know you need to vent,” family friend Tina Barrett said. “After today, I expect us all to be focused on getting that three years in prison for John Carter.”
The family is encouraging people to write impact statements for the judge to consider during Carter’s sentencing.
The theme of Saturday’s event was butterflies. Dave Markham said that Katelyn was “coming out of her shell, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.”
“I’ve had bad days in the early-on times, and the butterfly would come and fly around me. I was like ‘hi baby’,” Markham said.
Katelyn is remembered as a bright, happy, exuberant, friend and outgoing young woman.
The support “means a lot to me,” Markham said. “And without the support, I don’t know if I could have made it either.”
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