Terrance Lamar Craig-White, a 26-year-old Black/African American man from Coatesville, was killed on October 17, 2015, in Valley Township, Pennsylvania, in a double homicide that unfolded on Nichols Avenue. He was also known as “Syence,” and his obituary said he had spent much of his life in Decatur, Georgia, before relocating to Coatesville about two years before his death.
That Saturday evening, shortly before or just after 7:00 p.m., police were called to the first block of
Nichols Avenue for a report of shots fired. When officers arrived, they found a minivan parked on the street with two men inside who had been shot. The victims were identified as Clayton Woodward Jr. of Coatesville and Terrance Craig-White. Both men had suffered fatal gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene. Early reports said no arrests had been made, and investigators from Chester County, Valley Township, and Coatesville began asking the public for help.
For nearly three years, the case remained unresolved publicly while detectives continued building it. In 2018, Chester County authorities announced that Alan Carter, then 24, of Coatesville, had been arrested and charged in connection with the killings. Prosecutors alleged that the shooting was tied to a dispute over stolen drugs and money. According to authorities, Carter believed Woodward had broken into his residence while armed, tied up and threatened members of Carter’s family, and stolen cocaine and money.
Investigators alleged that Carter retaliated later that same day. Woodward, Craig-White, and a third person, Danielle Taltoan, were sitting in Woodward’s minivan outside Woodward’s home at 18 Nichols Avenue when Carter allegedly drove up in a 2010 Nissan Rogue SUV and opened fire with a. 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Woodward and Craig-White were both struck multiple times. Taltoan, who was in the back seat, survived without being injured.
The investigation focused heavily on the vehicle and witness statements. Detectives later located the Nissan Rogue abandoned in Southwest Philadelphia and said it was positively linked to Carter. Authorities reported that gunshot residue was recovered from the SUV. They also said witnesses had seen the vehicle leaving the area after the shooting, and that multiple witnesses told investigators Carter had either bragged about or admitted committing the shooting.
Carter was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and related offenses and was remanded to Chester County Prison. Authorities noted that there is no bail in Pennsylvania first-degree murder cases. The assigned prosecutors were identified as Chief of Trials Ron Yen and Assistant District Attorney Tanner Jacobs, and investigators continued asking anyone with additional information to contact Chester County detectives.
The online sources located report Carter’s arrest and murder charges, but they do not provide a confirmed conviction, acquittal, plea, sentencing, or punishment outcome for the case.
