Anthony J. Carter is arraigned in the June 2007 slayings of Heather Jesus and Amanda Sousa in Providence.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — Anthony J. Carter, a convicted robber and burglar and a registered sex offender, walked free from the Adult Correctional Institutions last June and allegedly went on a month-long tear of violent crime in two states that included the killing of two young women in Providence.

Yesterday, a shackled Carter was brought into Rhode Island Superior Court, having just been extradited from Florida, one year to the day after his alleged rampage began. He was arraigned on three indictments listing 22 charges in the double slaying and a slew of armed robberies that preceded the deaths.

Carter was charged in the slayings of Heather V. Jesus, 20, and her cousin, Amanda L. Sousa, 17, at Jesus’ apartment in a triple-decker at 381 Plainfield St., in Silver Lake, June 14, 2007. Sousa’s home was nearby, at 221 Valley St., but the police said that she had been staying with Jesus.

After allegedly killing Jesus and Sousa, Carter and an alleged conspirator are charged with having set the apartment afire in an attempt to destroy evidence.

The details of how the victims were killed have never been made clear publicly. The state medical examiner reported that Sousa died from “multiple blunt impact and sharp force injuries” and Jesus from “sharp force injuries and asphyxia due to neck and chest compression.”

Apparently driving a rented car, Carter allegedly fled to Florida, where law enforcement authorities say his rampage of armed robberies continued until he was captured in a chase by Polk County sheriff’s deputies and Lakeland police.

Rhode Island Assistant Public Defender Roy Fowler yesterday entered a plea of not guilty on all charges on Carter’s behalf, and Judge Edward C. Clifton ordered that Carter be held without bail at the ACI pending a hearing on bail and a determination of legal representation scheduled for June 12.

An impassive Carter listened as a court clerk recited the charges against him in a courtroom at the Licht Judicial Complex. Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit over a white T-shirt with tattoos visible on the backs of his hands and neck, Carter spoke only to confirm his name, give his date of birth and state his home address, 13 Busby St., Pawtucket.

Sousa’s mother, Kerry Sousa, her aunt, Debra Acquaviva, two other relatives of the victims and a friend attended the arraignment. Acquaviva hugged a sobbing Sousa throughout the proceeding, and a member of the attorney general’s victim assistance unit handed out tissues to the observers.

Assistant Attorney General Craig Montecalvo served Carter with official notice that his office would seek to have Carter sentenced as a habitual offender. The habitual-offender statute allows a judge to add up to 25 years to a prison sentence.

Carter had been incarcerated in Florida after being convicted of 10 armed robberies in that state that were committed after the slayings. A sentence of 55 years was imposed. Under an interstate compact, Florida agreed to release him for prosecution in Rhode Island, he waived an extradition hearing, and he was returned by Rhode Island sheriffs on Friday.

His alleged co-conspirator in the Rhode Island slayings and robberies, Raymond Clements, 24, who had recent addresses in Pawtucket and Providence, is serving time at the ACI for the robbery of an antiques store on Broad Street in Cranston on June 13, 2007. Carter also is charged in that robbery.

The chain of events began June 1, 2007, when Carter left the ACI on probation. He is charged with participating in seven robberies from June 2 through June 13 and the slayings on June 14, and then he stands convicted of 10 robberies in Florida from June 15 through June 28.

Regarding the indictment related to the slayings, Carter faces two counts of first-degree murder; one count of conspiracy to commit murder; one count of first-degree arson; and one count of failure to return rental property, the rented car.

gsmith@projo.com