Fundraiser Held For Family Of NAACP Leader Killed In Turks And Caicos

ARLINGTON, VA — The employer of the NAACP Arlington leader who was killed in an attack on Sunday while on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands is holding a fundraising campaign to help his family.

Kent Carter, a Realtor with Keller Williams Metro Center and first vice president of the NAACP Arlington Branch, was on vacation in the Turks and Caicos to celebrate his 40th birthday when armed men “indiscriminately” opened fire on a vehicle he was traveling in. Carter and a tour guide were killed in the shooting. Three others were also wounded.

“Kent was an incredible man who made everyone feel like he was their best friend,” Keller Williams Metro Center wrote on its Facebook page. “Kent was a leader, a friend, a loving father to his 14-year-old daughter, a partner to his girlfriend, a veteran, a phenomenal Realtor and real estate broker.”

Keller Williams Metro Center said the purpose of the GoFundMe campaign “is to live out the legacy that Kent would have wanted.”

“This fund is to support his family with immediate expenses and yet mostly to support his 14-year-old daughter for her current and future education expenses and passions,” the real-estate agency said.

As of Friday morning, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $43,000 for Carter's family.

"Always smiling, Always happy, Always real. It was an honor knowing and working with Kent. He will forever be in my heart," one person wrote on the GoFundMe site.

Another person said: "There's a little less light in the world. Kent Carter was one of the most uplifting people you'd ever meet. He touched the hearts of everyone he met. His death was senseless which makes the loss that much deeper."

Carter, an activist and philanthropist, was “well known for his dedication to, and uplifting of, our community,” the NAACP Arlington Branch said in a statement.

Julius Spain Sr., the NAACP's president in Arlington, told The New York Times that Carter had been involved with the group for nearly 10 years and was that branch’s vice president for four years.

“He is what you would call a gentle giant, one who was very passionate about social justice and civil rights,” Spain said Thursday.

Visit the GoFundMe site set up by Keller Williams Metro Center to donate money to the campaign for Carter's family.