A man accused of shooting and killing a female co-worker after she rebuffed his romantic advances has been found guilty of one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.
Michael Carpenter, 36, was accused of shooting his coworker Nicole Hammond the morning of October 24th, 2022, in the parking lot of a St. Cloud textile factory before their shift started.
Witnesses reported seeing Carpenter get out of his vehicle and walk towards Hammond in the parking lot of their workplace. Carpenter then fired a pistol at the 28-year-old as she was getting out of her vehicle, killing her.
St. Cloud Police say they found the pistol in Carpenter's car when he was arrested. Investigators believe Hammond had spurned Carpenter's repeated advances.
A search of Hammond's cell phone showed text messages to Carpenter the night before the shooting in which she told him she didn't want him to "touch her" or "manipulate her" and asked that he "not make things uncomfortable at work."
Co-workers said Carpenter had "a bad temper," and he told officers he was "upset" about his text message conversation with Hammond the night before the shooting, according to court records.
Carpenter was initially charged with second-degree murder, but those charges were upgraded by a grand jury to first-degree premeditated murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
