Jonathan Daniel Carr was born on March 30, 1980, in Dodge City, Kansas. He was the younger brother of Reginald Dexter Carr Jr., who was born on November 14, 1977. 

On December 8, 2000, Jonathan Carr and his brother Reginald went on a violent crime spree in Wichita, Kansas. Their first victim was Andrew Schreiber, a 23-year-old assistant baseball coach. They robbed him and left him injured. Just a few days later, on December 11, they shot Ann Walenta, a 55-year-old cellist, multiple times as she attempted to escape in her car. She later died from her injuries.

On December 14, the Carr brothers broke into a house where they found five people: Brad Heyka, Heather Muller, Aaron Sander, Jason Befort, and his girlfriend, Holly G. After searching for valuables, they forced their victims to strip naked and bound them. They then assaulted the two women and made the men participate in sexual acts.

After the assaults, the Carrs took the victims in Jason's truck to several ATMs, forcing them to withdraw money. They then drove to a closed soccer complex and executed all five victims by shooting them in the back of the head. Holly G. survived because a bullet ricocheted off her hair accessory. She walked over a mile in freezing weather to get help and was able to provide the police with descriptions of her attackers.

The next day, police arrested the Carr brothers. Witnesses identified Reginald, and with Holly's testimony, they were charged with numerous crimes including murder, rape, and robbery. The brothers were convicted on multiple counts and given death sentences. Over the years, their cases went through various appeals concerning their sentences, but they remained on death row in Kansas.