Arrest report reveals that toddler who shot Bernard Carter III had recently been placed in the home by DCF

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Lawanda Shuron Wade, 50, was arrested yesterday and charged with two counts of child abuse and tampering with a witness for attempting to cover up the events that led to the shooting death of her son Bernard Carter III; another son, Quante Tacarion Whitaker, 29, is facing similar charges but has not yet been arrested.

According to Wade’s arrest report, Carter was accidentally shot by a 2-year-old child at about 6:45 p.m. on March 24 in Wade’s apartment at Lewis Place Apartments (4121 NE 15th St). At the time, family members allegedly told Gainesville Police Department officers that Carter had entered the apartment and announced that he had been shot. Carter succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital several days later.

The arrest report alleges that Wade and Whitaker repeatedly lied to officers during the multi-week investigation, tampered with evidence, tampered with witnesses, and caused significant mental injury to two juvenile witnesses. Whitaker is also accused of committing perjury during sworn testimony.

The arrest report states that family members were initially uncooperative with the responding officers and refused consent to search the apartment for firearms or other evidence. All they reportedly said was that Carter had been shot elsewhere and had arrived at the apartment with a single gunshot wound.

On April 10, Whitaker provided sworn testimony at the State Attorney’s Office and revealed that the 2-year-old’s older siblings were in the apartment on the day of the shooting and that they had recently been placed with Wade and another family member by the Department of Children and Families.

Whitaker allegedly told “numerous” lies during his sworn testimony: he allegedly gave contradictory statements, including saying he saw Carter run inside the apartment after he was shot but later saying he didn’t know whether Carter was shot inside or outside because he was asleep. He reportedly denied hearing a gunshot and said he hadn’t seen Carter with a gun since December 2023 and had not seen a gun on the day of the shooting. He allegedly said the three children were shut in a room with Wade and another family member and that none of the children were with Carter at the time of the shooting.

On April 12, the two older children, ages 5 and 8, were forensically interviewed by the Child Advocacy Center; the two-year-old was determined to be non-verbal.

According to the arrest report, the eight-year-old provided a coached version of events, saying that Carter was shot outside the apartment by a man in a mask and that he didn’t see a gun; he eventually said Carter was shot in his bedroom and that Carter’s friend and a two-year-old were in the room with him at the time of the shooting. The five-year-old said “the baby” had a gun in Carter’s room, then said “the baby” didn’t have a gun but instead that the gun was in the kitchen and that Whitaker had the gun after the shooting.

The forensic interviewer provided the opinion that both children were suffering from significant mental anguish from witnessing Carter’s death and then being told to lie about it. The arrest report alleges that Wade and Whitaker prevented the children from receiving crisis therapy services by refusing to cooperate with the investigation.

Further investigation revealed that Whitaker had retrieved the gun from Carter’s room after the shooting and had hidden it in the kitchen. The gun has not been recovered.

Wade has convictions from 1992 to 2007 for battery, passing a worthless check, grand theft, dealing in stolen property, DUI, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon; several battery charges were dropped due to lack of cooperation from the victim. She was charged with shoplifting in 2020, but the charges were later dropped. Judge Thomas Jaworski set bail at $30,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.