When you hear certain stories, you begin to wonder what usually runs through the minds of people. When you look at someone, do you really know them? One of those unbelievable stories, is that of former NFL player Rae Carruth, who was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. Born in on January 20, 1974, Carruth was first drafted in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers and and played three seasons with them.
In 1999, Carruth and his girlfriend were expecting a baby. However, Carruth was not on the same page with his girlfriend Cherica Adams, a real estate agent, as he did not want her to have the baby. While Rae wanted the pregnancy terminated, his girlfriend was not okay with his idea, and she insisted on keeping the baby. Her decision did not sit well with the player, who hired Brett Watkins Sr., whom Carruth had met working at a strip club, to beat his girlfriend until she lost the pregnancy.
Initially, Carruth did not plan to take have his girlfriend killed, but only wanted the pregnancy to be terminated. After several unsuccessful attempts to convince his girlfriend to not keep the child, he changed his plans and decided to have her killed. Watkins (the hit man) revealed in an interview that he had been offered $3,000 by Carruth to help terminate the pregnancy. However, the fee increased when plans changed from having his girlfriend beaten to ending her life.
On November 16, 1999 Watkins followed Cherica Adam, and shot her four times near Carruth’s home. Adams was eight month pregnant at the time of the shooting. It is important to note that Carruth’s car has stopped in front of Adams car, while the car with Watkins drove by the side of her car and fired shots are her. After the incident, Watkins and Carruth quickly drove off and despite being shot, Adams was able to call the police and explain what had happened to her. After a rapid police intervention, Adams was rushed to the hospital, and shockingly survived, however she soon fell into a coma after admission into the hospital.
Surviving four close shots was considered by the hit man to be “miraculous”. Unfortunately, Adams would eventually died on December 14, 1999. Guess what? Her child survived, though he grew up with a disability caused by lack of oxygen for 70 minutes in Adams womb (as a result of her going into a coma after the shooting) before he was delivered by C-section.
Both Carruth and Watkins were arrested and charged. Carruth who was the brains behind the shooting, was not charged with any degree of murder was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison, while Watkins who was the perpetrator, was charged 40 years in prison, a jail term he continues to serve to date.
While Watkins was remorseful about his actions and willingly stood up for the act in court before being sentenced, Carruth was not willing to go down with him, and just from that act, he says they’ll be enemies for life, and he’d go after Carruth anytime he gets the chance to do so. The baby who Carruth attempted to end his life, is now 23-years old. His name is Chancellor Lee Adams and he has since graduated from high school.
Chancellor Adams survival is still a shock to many, even to his own father who did not want him to exist to begin with. According to sources, Carruth earned over $42,000 weekly when he was still playing for the Carolina Panthers, but his desire to end the life of his former girlfriend and child cost him his career and destroyed the American dream he was living that many other young athletes would have loved to have. He spent 18 years in prison and was released in October 2018. The hit man, Brett Watkins, is still serving his jail term and still has about 20 or more years to complete his sentence.
QUESTION: In your opinion, why do you think Carruth did not want the baby that he had to go this far to terminate it, to the extend of conspiring to murder his girlfriend?
