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A Prince William County jury has delivered a guilty verdict against one of the men involved in the 2024 murder-for-hire of 23-year-old Egypt Carter, a killing allegedly orchestrated by her husband, Lionel Melvin Carter III, from his prison cell.
On March 26, jurors found 29-year-old Grorethas McKinnon Jr. guilty of second-degree murder, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth’s office said in a Monday news release. McKinnon faces up to 40 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for July 2.
Another man involved in the murder, 29-year-old Drew Buchanan of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty in March 2025 to one count of first-degree murder. He faces life in prison at his sentencing set for June 12.
The convictions stem from the Feb. 2, 2024, ambush-style shooting of Egypt Carter, a North Carolina resident, at the Orchard Mills apartment complex in Dale City. The murder was allegedly orchestrated by Carter’s husband, Lionel Carter III, 34, who is serving a 30-year sentence at Sussex State Prison for the 2014 second-degree murder of his high school sweetheart, Kadijah Stewart, in Chesterfield.
Authorities allege Carter hired the suspects to kill his wife and lured her to the area of Brickwood Drive and Bronson Court in Dale City under the ruse of picking up narcotics for him.
Egypt Carter was reportedly sending her location via Telegram to an unidentified individual known as “Mr. Robot,” whom she knew, according to the release. Detectives also learned Carter had come to Prince William County to “make a play,” typically referring to a narcotics transaction, prosecutors said.
Just after 2 a.m., police responded to a shooting and found Carter’s Toyota idling in a cul-de-sac, the release said. Her car had come to rest against a parked vehicle off Benita Fitzgerald Drive.
“When the officer approached the vehicle, a female victim was found in the driver’s seat suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and head,” the release said. “The driver’s side window was halfway down and two holes from an apparent projectile were observed.”
The victim, later identified as Carter, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Based on an informant’s tip, Drew Buchanan was identified as a suspect and later arrested.
The informant also told detectives McKinnon asked Buchanan to commit the murder in exchange for cash at the behest of someone in prison, the release said. The plot was organized over social media and by text message.
Detectives interviewed Buchanan, who confessed to shooting Carter, the release said.
A sample of Buchanan’s DNA was compared to the DNA found on the cartridge casings at the murder scene, and Buchanan could not be eliminated “as a contributor,” the release said.
On Buchanan’s phone, detectives found calls with a number known to belong to McKinnon at the time of the murder, an Apple maps search for the murder location an hour before the crime and web history showing the user searched for news about the murder after the shooting, the release said.
A search warrant was served on McKinnon’s known Instagram account, which revealed his communication days before the murder with someone serving time in prison, leading to other text messages linking him and Buchanan to the crime, the release said.
A Prince William County grand jury indicted Lionel Carter for aggravated murder in December 2024. A jury trial is scheduled in Prince William County Circuit Court beginning April 27.
“This was a tragic loss for the family of Egypt Carter and a technically challenging case for the commonwealth as much of the evidence corroborating the statements of the co-conspirator was coded communications via messaging apps,” Ashworth said in a statement. “We are grateful that the jury understood what really happened in this case and found Mr. McKinnon guilty and responsible for the senseless death of Egypt Carter.”
