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Man convicted of murder in fatal beating of house sitter

A man accused of beating a house sitter to death at a house where he used to live as a foster child has been convicted of murder and numerous other counts.

With members of the Carter family in the background, Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton announces an arrest in the 2017 killing of Shawneeq Carter, the young woman beaten to death while she was house-sitting for a friend.
With members of the Carter family in the background, Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton announces an arrest in the 2017 killing of Shawneeq Carter, the young woman beaten to death while she was house-sitting for a friend.Read moreElizabeth Robertson
    by Associated Press, The Associated Press
    Published 

A man accused of beating a house sitter to death at a residence where he used to live as a foster child was convicted of murder and numerous other counts.

Brandon Wilson, 21, of Paulsboro, now faces a potential life term when he's sentenced Feb. 7. The verdict was handed down Thursday by a Gloucester County jury that deliberated for just a few hours.

Wilson was charged in the September 2017 slaying of 26-year-old Shawneeq Carter. Her body was found by her 5-year-old son and a 5-year-old cousin in the Woodbury home of an acquaintance.

Prosecutors have said Wilson killed Carter after breaking into the home a day after his release from jail, where he was held on drug charges. She was beaten to death with a piece of gym equipment.

The two children were asleep when the attack occurred.

Wilson had lived in the house for five months as a foster child in early 2016 and had been caught trespassing in the home after moving out, authorities have said.

Wilson’s lawyer had challenged the reliability of DNA evidence and suggested Carter had been targeted, arguing that Wilson didn’t know Carter and had no motive to harm her.