Carla Reese was introduced during Season 3 as Peter Benton's girlfriend, and she later becomes the mother of Reese Benton. Carla dies in a car accident at the beginning of Season 8. She was portrayed by Lisa Nicole Carson.
History[]
Carla Reese owns a Caribbean restaurant in Chicago and meets Peter Benton at a barbecue. They date for a while and then drift apart. Carla learns she is pregnant and tells Peter he is the father. Their son Reese is born premature, and a drug he was given in the NICU leaves him deaf. At first, Carla and Peter have trouble accepting Reese is deaf. Peter researches possibilities for restoring hearing, including cochlear implant surgery. They learn to accept it and Reese wears hearing aids and learns sign language.
Carla begins a new relationship with a man named Roger McGrath, and eventually they get married. At the end of Season 5, she tells Peter that now she is married, she will take Reese to Germany with her and Roger. Peter is naturally very upset and doesn't want this to happen.
At the beginning of Season 6, legal proceedings begin because Peter has refused to give up Reese. Carla angers Peter by saying that Reese might not even be Peter's son, Peter takes a paternity test and decides not to see the results.
Carla tells Peter that she and Roger have been fighting and he moved out. She tries to seduce Peter, but he rejects her because of his relationship with Cleo Finch. While under Cleo's care, Reese breaks his hand, and Carla warns Cleo to stay away from her son.
In early Season 8, Carla dies in a car crash, and Peter takes full custody of Reese, though Roger tries to fight it and eventually wins visitation rights for himself. During the custody hearing, Peter takes another paternity test and learns that he is not Reese's biological father.