The wife of a Port Ludlow man who was murdered by his son in November had earlier filed a multi-million dollar damage claim against Jefferson County before she filed a negligence lawsuit against county officials in April.

Kristi Ann Carpenter filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and Jefferson County Juvenile and Family Court Services on April 17 in Kitsap County Superior Court.

In the suit, Carpenter claimed the county was negligent because it did not keep her 17-year-old son in custody because of his earlier history of violent attacks against his father.

Jason L. Carpenter, 18, remains in Jefferson County Jail as he awaits his trial on a charge of second-degree murder later this year.

Prosecutors allege the teen stabbed his father, Robert E. Carpenter, 56, to death at the family’s home in Port Ludlow the evening of Nov. 28.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for Kristi Carpenter claim her son had an extensive history of violence and should have been kept in custody by Jefferson County due to his repeated violations of provisions of a court-ordered diversion program that followed previous attacks on his father and a history of violent rages.

The lawsuit also noted that an employee from the county’s juvenile and family court services met with the teen hours before he fatally attacked his father last November, but authorities did not remove him from the family home on Dunsmuir Road.

Police quickly found Jason Carpenter on the golf course near the couple’s residence. 

Carpenter was arraigned in early December in Jefferson County Superior Court and entered a pleading of not guilty. The charge of second-degree murder filed in court includes sentencing enhancements for domestic violence and deadly weapon.

His arraignment on the felony charge came roughly two weeks shy of Carpenter’s 18th birthday, and prosecutors decided he would face trial as an adult.

The Carpenter family moved to Port Ludlow in October 2020. 

Kristi Carpenter’s lawsuit against Jefferson County claims both parents told Jefferson County deputies they did not feel safe with their son in the home, and they didn’t want him to stay there following an incident where the teen violently beat his father in June 2022 when he was armed with a knife, and broke down a door when his father tried to escape. 

The lawsuit follows a claim for damages against Jefferson County that was filed by an attorney for Kristi Carpenter less than two months after Robert Carpenter’s death in November.

According to the claim, obtained by The Leader through a public records request, Kristi Carpenter sought $4 million in damages from Jefferson County for the “murder of Robert Carpenter by Jason Carpenter while Jason Carpenter was under the supervision of Jefferson County.”

The “wrongful death” claim was filed Jan. 13 by the Seattle law firm of Albert Law.

Carpenter’s trial is scheduled to start May 8 in Jefferson County Superior Court.