Dakota Ron Cleao Carter was 16 when he was shot in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, on June 1, 2021. Law enforcement responded about 1:20 a.m. to a call on Hosick Avenue; Carter was taken first to Baptist Health Hospital in Madisonville and then airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where he died of his injuries. He worked at a McDonald’s in Princeton.

The Kentucky State Police opened an investigation and arrested 19-year-old Michael A. Roche at his Dawson Springs home the next day. Roche was charged with complicity to murder in Carter’s death and also faced charges of cultivating marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, endangering the welfare of a minor, and an outstanding Hopkins County warrant. The investigation was described as ongoing.

Anyone who knew Dakota, was in the Hosick Avenue area that night, or has information relevant to the case is asked to come forward.