COCKE COUNTY, Tenn. — Mary Carter is trying to cope with the loss of her husband, Joseph Carter. Police said that Carter was killed by his neighbor while he sat in a van in his driveway. They also said that his three girls were there with him.
"He was one of the good ones that should not have been taken," said Mary. "It is unfair to me and my children, that I had to lose everything."
He was her rock, the person she woke up to every day and who she could count on no matter what.
"I don't even get to hear his voice anymore," she said. "And I just I loved everything about him. The smile in his eyes, there's the way that he talked to the kids."
Now she said that she is fighting for justice. The man police say shot and killed Carter, James Raspberry, is out of jail on bond.
"It's unfair to me," she said. "My husband needs justice. And (Raspberry) needs to be placed back behind bars."
She said that Joseph wasn't just anybody. He was loved by his family, and she said that he was a good person and a veteran who served his community. He was in the military from 2012 to 2016, she said.
But at heart, he loved his three little girls. She said that he was always supportive of his daughters, doing whatever he could for them.
"We'd wake up in the morning and say, 'Girlies! It's time to get out, girlies!'" she said. "He would pick them up and put them on his shoulder and walk around the store with them."
He was also willing to go the extra mile to help another person, regardless of whether he had just met them or had known them forever.
"He would drop anything in a heartbeat and go to that person's assistance," Mary said. "Even if he only knew them for two days, he would drop everything and go help them."
Joseph Carter was 35 years old. Anyone who wants to help the Carter family can go to this link to contribute to their GoFundMe campaign.