Nevada mom held at knifepoint with her three kids ‘pocket dials’ 911 to save family from kidnapper

A woman in Nevada saved herself and her three children by pocket-dialing 911 and talking to dispatchers discreetly after they were kidnapped and held captive in a car. 

Justin Junius Carter, 34, was arrested on Monday after allegedly trying to stab the mother-of-three at her Las Vegas home before holding her captive at knifepoint along with her children, according to the Mesquite Police Department. 

Police said the unidentified woman and the suspect experienced a ‘prior relationship’ and that he drove her and the children to Mesquite – roughly 80 miles northeast of Sin City, close to the state’s border with Arizona. 

On the way there, the woman managed to call 911 shortly after midnight from inside the vehicle without her kidnapper noticing. She was hoping responders would pick up on queues that she needed help by picking up on the particular way she spoke to them and by letting the call go on.

The vehicle was later identified on Interstate 15 after the woman revealed the car’s location to cops over the phone. Carter was subsequently pulled over and placed in handcuffs while the four victims were rescued. 

Justin Junius Carter, 34, was arrested on Monday in Nevada after kidnapping a woman with whom he had a ‘prior relationship with’ and her three children. Charges filed against him include attempted murder, attempted sexual assault and four counts of second-degree kidnappings in violation of an extended protection order

Carter threatened the family-of-four with a knife at their home in Las Vegas before driving all four victims to Mesquite – an 80-miles drive north

Carter was then taken to the Clark County Detention Center and was booked on 14 felony charges, including attempted murder, attempted sexual assault, four counts of second-degree kidnappings in violation of an extended protection order, four counts of violation of an extended protection order, domestic battery with the use of a deadly weapon and coercion with the use of a deadly weapon. 

He is also facing two counts of resisting arrest. 

‘The bravery of this woman and her children cannot be overstated,’ Mesquite Police chief MaQuade Chesley told KVVU.  ‘They maintained their composure, and she bravely created a plan in her head to call for help as soon as she could.’ 

Chesley also applauded dispatchers for identifying the woman’s plan and coordinating with officers to arrest the suspect.

‘Their swift action and persistence to gather information from the 911 call saved this family from further harm,’ he further said. 

Police were able to identify the car’s location on Interstate-15, thanks to the woman’s 911 pocket dial call 

Carter’s first court appearance in relation to the case is set for October 26. 

It won’t be the first time the suspect has had run-ins with the law. 

In November 2021, he was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and unloading a firearm at an ‘occupied structure or vehicle,’ the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.   

District court records indicate he was then on probation for a maximum of five years, meaning he may have violated it at the time of his arrest.