Cleveland, Ohio – An indictment was handed down on Tuesday for a Cleveland woman in connection to the fatal shooting of Antwoina Carter last month. Trinity Ford, 19, faces charges of murder, felonious assault, and discharging a weapon on a public roadway, as confirmed by a Cuyahoga County grand jury. She is currently in custody on a $1 million bond and is set to appear in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for arraignment on Friday.
Ford is alleged to have been the driver of the car involved in the pursuit of Carter’s vehicle on March 17. The assailant, who discharged multiple shots at Carter from the passenger side window during the chase on East 105th Street, remains at large. Carter, a 26-year-old resident of Cleveland, succumbed to a gunshot wound to her back, with her death being classified as a homicide. Suffering severe injuries to her heart and spine, Carter managed to drive past her mother’s residence on Garfield Avenue before crashing.
In an unusual twist, two Cleveland police officers were present at Carter’s mother’s house responding to a disturbance call just moments before the tragic incident unfolded. Upon hearing the gunshots and witnessing Carter’s speeding vehicle approaching, the officers discharged their firearms towards the car. Despite this, initial investigations by the county medical examiner failed to establish a direct link between police actions and Carter’s demise.
Following the protocol for officer-involved shootings, the case was promptly transferred to the Cuyahoga County sheriff’s deputies for further investigation. The indictment against Ford includes a firearm specification that could potentially extend her prison sentence by five years if she is found guilty. This specification is based on the accusation of discharging a weapon from a moving vehicle, adding another layer of complexity to the legal proceedings surrounding the case.