Kevon Carter of Valley Stream, sanitation worker, party promoter, dies at 33

Known for a trademark smile that radiated from his entire face, Kevon Carter aspired to be rich, not just to sip more of his favorite liquid, Moet rosé Champagne, but to help friends and family, they said.

He got friends jobs, and if he felt anyone was hiding worries during phone calls, he would show up for a wellness check.

“If he loved you, he loved you very hard,” said Larry Joachim, a cousin and his best friend. “Kevon would give you his last $100 but not let you know it’s his last $100.”

Carter, of Valley Stream, was 33 when he died of walking pneumonia on June 4, his family said.

Before his job at Valley Stream Village’s sanitation department, his party promotions, his ice delivery company and other jobs, Carter was a popular track star at Valley Stream Central High School, where he was also the 2008 homecoming king.

Despite debilitating asthma, Carter competed locally and around the country since grade school in trips with his father and school teams, earning more than 50 trophies.

He could do a mile in about four minutes and was his high school’s most decorated distance runner, a major reason why the school won Nassau County and Long Island championships, said Michael McQuillan, the school’s longtime cross country and track coach. Carter led several teams, and in 2007, he won the New York State Sportsmanship Award in the Nassau division.

“He was the easiest kid I’ve ever coached,” McQuillan said. “He could run like a graceful gazelle but competed with the heart of a lion.”

He got a sports scholarship to Morgan State University but dropped out after three years to work, including at a Boar’s Head factory in Brooklyn, where he was promoted to manager.

At his sanitation job, Carter made picking up trash fun, said work friend Danny Guarneri. They would videotape each other trying out discarded items, including Carter on toy cars, a girl’s pink bike and a tiny trampoline.

His “people person” side also came out on the route, like when he talked to a little boy like an adult instead of a child with disabilities, his colleague recounted.

“He was always about putting a smile on somebody’s face,” Guarneri said.

He had perfect personality for a party promoter, nicknaming himself “Pretty Boi Carter,” wanting to be unique with his spelling, family and friends said. He dressed in designer duds, buzzed around greeting party guests and was known for taking his shirt off while dancing, friends said.

Under Private Champagne Group, the business recently formed by Carter, his cousin and a friend, the three were planning to buy a yacht to rent as a party venue and enough land on which to build a gated community to sell homes.

Carter also spoke of buying his Valley Stream childhood home of happy memories, where he had hundreds of guests partying all night on his 18th birthday, with his mother and sister cooking.

“He’d give me advice like he’s somebody’s pastor,” recalled Felicia Legier, of Miramar, Florida, of her younger sibling. “He had a very strong presence. He has this thing, the way he stands, and as soon as he smiles, you smile. You couldn’t help but laugh when you hear him laugh. You couldn’t help but feel the sunshine.”

Her brother often boosted spirits with “If I got it, you got it,” she said, but his favorite line was one he always uttered with excitement: “If I go today or tomorrow, just know your brother lived a great life.”

Besides his sister, he is survived by his mother, Ava Carter, and father, Martin Carter, both of Coconut Creek, Florida.

A service was held June 19 at the Lieber Funeral Home in Valley Stream, followed by an hourslong celebration of his life with food and dancing — a party Carter had planned out. He was cremated.