A year after being named as a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Capitol Hill woman, John Lee Carson is at a prison for mentally ill inmates and has yet to be charged in the crime.
Carson, 32, serving a prison sentence in two unrelated cases, was named last April as a suspect in the murder of Brenda Denton, 38, whose body was found in her apartment in the 900 block of Lafayette Street on March 8, 2005.
The murder happened as serial rapist Brent Brents was assaulting women and girls in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood, and Brents was once considered a possible suspect in the Denton case.
Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Carson remains a suspect in the case, which has not been referred to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey for possible charges.
Part of the reason Carson has not been charged is because he is in prison and is not an immediate threat to the community, Jackson said.
Jackson characterized the evidence against Carson as “strong.”
Carson is serving sentences in a case involving a hammer attack and another involving a stabbing, court and corrections records indicate.
Carson, who is mentally ill, was off his medications and using street drugs during both assaults, according to a letter in his court file.
When he was named a suspect in Denton’s murder, he was being held at Buena Vista Correctional Facility.
Since then, he has been transferred to San Carlos Correctional Facility, which has 250 beds for mentally ill inmates under evaluation or treatment.
The prison is on the grounds of the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo, and inmates sent there are evaluated to confirm their mental illness and determine the severity of their illness, said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
She said she could not comment specifically about Carson.
Carson will be eligible for parole in December, according to DOC records. His mandatory release is scheduled for 2012, the records say.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
