Carlton Dotson

Case record: Carlton Dotson

Timeline

• Summer of 2003 — Carlton Dotson and Patrick Dennehy indicated they were concerned about their safety.
• June 14 — Patrick Dennehy told friend Daniel Okopnyi that he was worried about threats made to Dotson by two fellow teammates.
• June 19 — Valorie and Brian Brabazon filed a report with the Waco Police Department that Dennehy was missing.
• June 25 — Dennehy’s Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was found in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with its license plates removed.
• June 23 — An affidavit filed seeking a search warrant for Dennehy’s computer said an informant in Delaware told police that Dotson, who by then was at home in Hurlock, Maryland, told a cousin that he had shot and killed Dennehy during an argument while firing guns in the Waco area.
• June 30 — The affidavit seeking a search warrant for Dennehy’s computer was unsealed.
• July 21 — Dotson was charged with murdering Dennehy and was taken into custody by Corporal Keith Benton and Sgt. Henry Hernandez of the Dorchester County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office.
• July 25 — A badly-decomposed body was found in a gravel pit near Waco and was taken to Dallas for an autopsy.
• July 26 — Medical examiners identified the body as being Patrick Dennehy.
• July 30 — Dennehy’s death was ruled a homicide after a preliminary autopsy report showed that Dennehy died of gunshot wounds to the head.
• August 7 — Dennehy was buried in San Jose, California.
• October 28, 2004 — District Judge George Allen declared Dotson incompetent to stand trial and sent him to a state mental hospital to be reevaluated in four months’ time.
• February 2005 — Dotson was returned to jail after psychologists deemed him competent to stand trial but that he must continue taking his anti-psychotic medication.
• June 8, 2005 — Five days before his trial for murder was to begin, Dotson unexpectedly pleaded guilty to killing Dennehy.
• June 15, 2005 — Dotson was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
• January 2006 — Dotson attempted to appeal his conviction.
• After the brief hearing (June 15, 2005) — Dennehy’s mother, Valorie Brabazon, said she wanted a longer sentence and that the family would attend all parole board hearings and urge that Dotson “doesn't walk the streets again.”

Background

Carlton Eric Dotson, Jr. (born June 1, 1982) was an American former college basketball player.

Dotson attended North Dorchester High School. He played at University at Buffalo and Paris Junior College before transferring to Baylor in the summer of 2002, where he played one season as a forward.

The offence

In the summer of 2003, Patrick Dennehy and Dotson indicated that they were concerned about their safety. They had purchased two pistols and a rifle and practiced firing them at a farm north of Waco.

On June 14, 2005, Dennehy told friend Daniel Okopnyi that he was worried about threats made to Dotson by two fellow teammates. Dennehy also indicated that he and Dotson would be at a party the following day at which neither appeared.

Over the next few days, indications that something had gone wrong included concerns by Dennehy’s mother and stepfather, Valorie and Brian Brabazon, that they had received no calls on Father’s Day, and that Dennehy’s roommate, Chris Turk, returned from an out-of-town trip to find that Dennehy’s dogs had not been fed in days.

Dotson later entered a guilty plea to killing Dennehy.

Investigation

An affidavit filed on June 23 sought a search warrant for Dennehy’s computer. The affidavit said that an informant in Delaware told police that Dotson, who by then was at home in Hurlock, Maryland, told a cousin that he had shot and killed Dennehy during an argument while firing guns in the Waco area.

On June 30, the affidavit was unsealed.

Dennehy’s Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was found in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with its license plates removed on June 25.

The search for Dennehy continued for several weeks.

On July 25, a badly-decomposed body was found in a gravel pit near Waco and was taken to Dallas for an autopsy. On July 26, medical examiners identified the body as being Patrick Dennehy.

On July 30, Dennehy’s death was ruled a homicide after a preliminary autopsy report showed that Dennehy died of gunshot wounds to the head.

The autopsy details given included that Dennehy was shot twice: once above the right ear and once behind it toward the back of the head.

Arrest and custody

On July 21, Dotson was charged with murdering Dennehy and taken into custody by Corporal Keith Benton and Sgt.

Trial

On October 28, 2004, District Judge George Allen declared Dotson incompetent to stand trial and sent him to a state mental hospital to be reevaluated in four months’ time.

Three psychiatrists, including one appointed by the court, said that Dotson appeared to be suffering from hallucinations and psychosis, but that if he regained competency in the future, he would be made to stand trial.

In February 2005, Dotson was returned to jail after psychologists deemed him competent to stand trial but that he must continue taking his anti-psychotic medication. The psychologist also said that Dotson’s accounts of hallucinations and hearing voices were “suspect.”

On June 8, 2005, five days before his trial for murder was to begin, Dotson unexpectedly pleaded guilty to killing Dennehy.

No witnesses were called Wednesday (June 15, 2005) before sentencing.

Sentencing

On June 15, 2005, Dotson was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

State District Judge Ralph Strother ruled based on documents filed by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Strother said he considered the senseless nature of the crime, Dotson’s mental problems, age, and lack of previous criminal record.

“I suspect there is no way in the world for these two families who have suffered in this situation to appreciate the suffering that each has undergone,”
“I hope that as time goes by, that they will understand that there but by the grace of God could go I.”

Dotson was eligible for parole in 2021 after serving roughly half his sentence.

Appeals

In January 2006, Dotson attempted to appeal his conviction. His request for an appeal was denied on the grounds that he surrendered his right to appeal when he pleaded guilty.

Outcome

Dotson pleaded guilty to murdering Patrick Dennehy and received a 35-year prison sentence.

Other details

Patrick Dennehy was buried in San Jose, California, on August 7.

Dennehy was missing for six weeks before his body was found in July 2003 in a field where the best friends had gone to shoot guns at targets.

After the sentencing, Dennehy’s stepfather, Brian Brabazon, called Dotson an “instrument of the devil” and said he killed the Dennehy family’s dreams when he pulled the trigger.

“Carlton, Patrick was someone who cared for you, who you laughed with, who was there by your side,”
“He would not leave you no matter how tough times got. ... Carlton Dotson, you killed a beautiful young man: James Patrick Dennehy II, a loving son, a loving brother, a loving boyfriend, a human being.”

As Dotson was led out of the courtroom, Brabazon held up a framed picture of Dennehy and shouted “Remember him! Remember his face!”

Dennehy’s mother, Valorie Brabazon, wiped away tears and said she wanted a longer sentence. She said the family would attend all parole board hearings and urge that Dotson “doesn't walk the streets again.”

Defense attorney Russ Hunt Sr. said the punishment was fair and that Dotson was remorseful.

Dotson told his attorneys that in the months before he shot Dennehy, he was paranoid that people were trying to kill him.

“Patrick started shooting at cans and things; he had a gun in his hand. At that time Carlton thought, 'He's going to kill me. I know he's going to kill me. I've got to kill him first.' And he killed him first,”
Hunt said.

Dotson’s mother, Gilreatha Stoltzfus, urged her son to plead guilty and said she also said Baylor should be held responsible for not supervising the athletes.

Part of the prosecution’s report to the judge included FBI documents detailing Dotson’s confession, in which he said “a higher power told him to talk to the FBI” and told authorities where to look for Dennehy.

Dotson told FBI agents that he thought people were trying to kill him because “he is Jesus, the son of God.”

Dotson, who moved in with Dennehy in May 2003, said the two bought guns for protection after receiving threatening phone calls.

Dotson said that on June 11, Dennehy pointed a gun at him after the pair went to gravel pits for target practice. When Dennehy’s gun jammed, Dotson said “Father, please forgive me,” and shot his friend.

Dotson said he then packed his belongings, called a relative to wire him money, drove home to Maryland, and threw the gun in a lake along the way.

The autopsy did not support Dotson’s self-defense claim.

Meanwhile, Baylor was waiting on the expected summer release of an NCAA report on whether the school faced more sanctions in addition to Baylor’s self-imposed penalties.

Allegations of NCAA violations surfaced after Dennehy’s disappearance and death, and men’s coach Dave Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton later resigned.

An internal Baylor investigative committee found that Bliss improperly paid up to $40,000 in tuition for Dennehy and another player, and that the coaching staff did not report players’ failed drug tests.

Bliss also asked players and an assistant coach to lie to investigators by saying Dennehy paid his tuition by dealing drugs.

People named in the case included Daniel Okopnyi (friend of Dennehy), Valorie Brabazon (Dennehy’s mother), Brian Brabazon (Dennehy’s stepfather), Chris Turk (Dennehy’s roommate), Corporal Keith Benton and Sgt. Henry Hernandez (Dorchester County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Office), George Allen (District Judge), and Ralph Strother (State District Judge), along with Russ Hunt Sr. (defense attorney).