Kalup Born was sentenced to over 50 years in prison for killing a woman after he backed her car off an Oklahoma bridge. He then broke into two more homes, including setting one ablaze (above). He also murdered a man in jail and tried to kill another. (Mug shot via Pontotoc County Justice Center; Screenshot: KXII/YouTube)
A judge sealed the fate of a man who killed a woman after he backed her car off a bridge with her still inside and then shoved her down to the water below before breaking into two homes, one of which he set ablaze.
He later killed a man while in jail while awaiting trial and tried to kill another. For his plethora of crimes, the judge sentenced 25-year-old Kalup Allen Born to over 50 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma said.
On Jan. 15, 2017, when he was 18, prosecutors said he broke into a home in Fittstown, Oklahoma, in Chickasaw Nation. Born broke into the home of 70-year-old Brenda Carter. He then held her at knife point and kidnapped her before stealing her car, prosecutors said. After driving for a while, prosecutors say Born backed her car off a bridge with Carter still inside. Born then pushed her out of the car, causing her to fall into the creek.
Carter suffered severe blunt-force trauma, including a ruptured organ and a pelvic injury. Born then left her in the water as she was “moaning” and unable to move. He then burglarized a second home where he stole a blanket, knife, wallet and electronics, prosecutors said. After that, he broke into a third home and set it ablaze with the occupants still inside. A bystander rescued the people in the home, and cops arrested Born a short time later, a press release said.
The Oklahoman newspaper reported the crime spree began after Born was kicked out of a fraternity party. He then broke into Carter’s home on the same block. Carter died from her injuries in June 2017.
While in the Pontotoc County Justice Center in December 2020, prosecutors say he killed a fellow inmate in a “brutal and sustained attack.” Then, in April 2023, he stabbed an inmate repeatedly with a homemade knife in the Muskogee County Jail and tried to throw him over a railing, prosecutors said.
Born pleaded guilty to crimes in all three incidents.
“The crimes committed by Born are gut-wrenching, and there is no question the sentencing is just,” said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray in a statement. “Born decided to continue his life of crime even while in prison. He clearly did not learn his lesson and continued to terrorize the lives of others.”
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma Christopher J. Wilson said, “the enormity of these heinous acts cannot be overstated.”
“Born has proven to be a threat to society both inside and outside the walls of the prison system. This sentence ensures he will spend a substantial portion of his life, if not all, behind those walls where his actions are as limited as possible.”
For the Carter family, the stiff prison sentence was a long time coming. Her son said his family, at times, thought they may never receive justice. The State of Oklahoma originally was prosecuting the case. But a 2020 Supreme Court McGirt v. Oklahoma decision determined portions of the eastern half of the state were Native American land. The state case was dismissed, and federal prosecutors charged Born in March 2021.
“I, finally in my victim impact statement, was able to say my peace and get out my anger and my frustration of this seven long years,” Jay Carter told CBS affiliate KXII.
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