John Carter, Katelyn Markham’s former fiancée, wants out of prison early

He pled guilty in her death and should ‘serve every millisecond ... and nothing less,’ prosecutor days
John Carter was sentenced to 3 years in prison on July 18, 2024, after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Katelyn Markham. He filed on Oct. 15, 2025, a motion for early release. NICK GRAHAM/FILE

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

John Carter was sentenced to 3 years in prison on July 18, 2024, after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Katelyn Markham. He filed on Oct. 15, 2025, a motion for early release. NICK GRAHAM/FILE

John Carter, who pled guilty to the death of his Fairfield girlfriend Katelyn Markham, wants out of prison early.

In early June 2024, Carter agreed to a plea deal that reduced a murder charge down to involuntary manslaughter. A month later, he was sentenced to three years in prison, the maximum sentence for the third-degree felony.

Last week, Carter, 37, filed a motion asking a judge to release him early after only serving a little more than a year in prison. In his appeal, Carter’s attorney, Cornelius Lewis, addressed that his client “has worked extremely hard at being a ‘model-inmate’ by engaging in positive programs and avoiding the negative prison environment.”

Lewis also wrote Carter is “an eligible offender” for an early release.

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said Carter should “serve every millisecond” of his sentence “and nothing less.”

Katelyn Markham. SUBMITTED

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In his motion to oppose early release, Gmoser said Carter has a “lack of remorse” for Markham’s death.

Carter was engaged to Markham at the time of her 2011 disappearance and death. She was days away from her 22nd birthday.

After years of investigation by Fairfield Police, no arrests were made even after Markham’s body was found in Indiana. In March 2023, an indictment against Carter was returned by a Butler County grand jury after the county prosecutor’s investigators had taken another look and probed the evidence for about 18 months.

Carter’s motion is set for Nov. 20 in Judge Dan Haughey’s courtroom.

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