O.C. Father Kills Infant Son, Then Himself

A 31-year-old man, apparently distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, shot their infant son to death and wounded the baby’s mother in her home early Friday morning before putting the gun to his head and killing himself.

John Craig Carlson broke into a Delaware Avenue apartment shared by his estranged girlfriend, Michelle Smith, their 11-week-old son, Asa William Smith, and Smith’s mother and stepfather, Huntington Beach Lt. Ed McErlain said.

“Everyone was home sleeping and he came over armed with a gun,” McErlain said. “He had not been happy with the fact that the relationship had broken up.”

The shootings took place only four days after an Anaheim man, reportedly deeply troubled over the breakup of his marriage, died with his four children during a fire in the family home that authorities suspect he set.

Huntington Beach police were called to Smith’s apartment at 1:20 a.m. by the 19-year-old woman, who had been shot in the right leg with a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun.

She met officers at the door holding her infant son, who had been shot in the back. Officers administered first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, then rushed the baby in a police car to Pacifica Community Hospital in Huntington Beach where he was pronounced dead, McErlain said.

Smith is in satisfactory condition at another hospital, said McErlain, who would not disclose the name. Carlson, a Redondo Beach resident, was found dead next to the baby’s bassinet in an upstairs bedroom.

Police said the shootings took place in rapid succession after Carlson broke into the house through an upstairs bedroom window by cutting though a screen.

But neighbors gave a different account, recalling two separate bursts of gunfire.

A couple who live next door said they sat terrified in their apartment as the violence erupted. “They were fighting and (Michelle Smith) was yelling, ‘Don’t hurt the baby!’ ” said the woman, who declined to give her name.

The couple said they heard a gunshot then saw Smith run out onto the sidewalk crying, “My baby’s dead!” They said Carlson ran after her into the street and the two struggled. They said a hysterical Smith managed to get back into the apartment and lock Carlson out.

They then saw Carlson climb up a tree by their front door and onto the roof, where he re-entered Smith’s apartment through a window, the couple said. They then heard more gunshots.

The couple, who appeared exhausted and visibly upset several hours after the shooting, were reluctant to talk about their neighbors, but said they were acquainted with Smith’s mother, who they described as a doting grandmother who was extremely proud of her newest grandchild.

“The grandmother is a darn good lady,” said the woman.

Police refused to release the names of Smith’s mother and stepfather, who neighbors said appeared to be in their 50s and have lived at the complex for more than 10 years. McErlain said the stepfather ran to the bedroom after Smith had summoned his help, but the shootings had already taken place. He was not injured.

The couple also said that Carlson had lived with the family in the apartment sporadically and described him as “a bad egg.” They said that Carlson and Smith had argued frequently in the past and said they once saw Carlson cleaning out a gun in the garage of the eight-unit apartment complex.

“He would live there on and off,” the woman said. “He was a party animal, a real bum. They had some fights over him not working. He was very rude to other neighbors and capable of making some very nasty comments.”

The couple said that when the baby was born, the family was jubilant and had hung several signs outside their two-story brown stucco apartment announcing: “It’s a boy!”

“They were so proud,” said the woman. “That’s what makes this all so tragic. For something like this to happen is just insane.”

Another neighbor, Deanna Lieber, described her neighbors as “quiet” but said she didn’t know the family very well. Her bedroom wall abuts the bedroom where the shootings took place. “The shots could have come through our wall easily,” Lieber said. “It was terrifying. Just unbelievable.”

McErlain said Carlson had been convicted of violent, felony crimes in the past, but refused to be more specific.

According to state Department of Motor Vehicles records in Sacramento, Carlson’s driver’s license was suspended on June 23 after he failed a blood-alcohol test on May 9. The DMV records also show that Carlson was convicted of drunk driving on Feb. 20, 1987. He was also cited on May 3, 1991, for driving through a red light and failing to appear in court.

In addition, Carlson was cited on Dec. 12, 1991, for not having current vehicle registration and for failing to appear in court. The DMV said he was convicted of all of his 1991 citations.

Times Staff Writer Bill Billiter contributed to this story.