St. Cloud man indicted on first-degree murder charge in workplace shooting

ST. CLOUD — A Benton County grand jury last week indicted a 36-year-old St. Cloud man on one count of first-degree premeditated murder in the fatal shooting of a woman outside her workplace last October.

Michael J. Carpenter was previously charged with one count of second-degree intentional murder in the death of 28-year-old Nicole M. Hammond of St. Cloud. In Minnesota, a grand jury indictment is required for crimes carrying a life sentence.

According to court documents, police responded to a report of a gunshot at a textile business on the northeast side of St. Cloud just before 7 a.m. Oct. 24 and found Hammond lying in the parking lot near her car with a pool of blood around her head.

Two employees of the textile businesses where Hammond and Carpenter also worked told police they saw the suspect in the parking lot before hearing gunfire. After Carpenter's arrest, police found a 9-millimeter pistol and loaded magazine in his car; the style and brand of ammunition matched the shell casings at the scene, documents state.

Investigators found several text messages between Hammond and Carpenter from the previous night in which she said she "did not want to be touched" by Carpenter and told him not to make things uncomfortable at work, documents state. Employees told police Carpenter had made numerous advances toward Hammond and she had repeatedly rebuffed them.

A few weeks after Hammond's death, her friends and family organized a memorial walk around Lake George in St. Cloud with proceeds benefitting the Anna Marie's Alliance domestic violence shelter.

Hammond's obituary states she was a talented writer with a love for hiking, kayaking, photography and traveling, and that she was working to start her own jewelry business.

Minnesotans and others struggling with domestic violence can receive immediate help from the Day One Crisis Hotline by phone at 866-223-1111 or by text at 612-399-9995.