| THE
SHOOTING |
| Nov.
15, 1999 9:45 p.m. |
Cherica Adams and Rae Carruth
see the film "The Bone Collector" at the
Regal Cinemas in Charlotte.
|
| Approximately
10:30 p.m. |
Van Brett Watkins, Michael
Eugene Kennedy and Stanley Abraham, acquaintances
of Carruth's, purchase a .38 caliber pistol
and bullets for $100, according to Abraham
and Watkins.
|
| 11:51
p.m. |
A call is placed from Carruth's
cell phone to Kennedy's cell phone.
|
| November
16 Around midnight |
Carruth and Adams leave the theater in Carruth's white Ford Expedition and go to his home nearby, where her car, a black BMW, is parked.
The two decide to head to her apartment in separate cars. Carruth drives down Rea Road with Adams directly behind him. At some point the two cars separated, though exactly when remains in dispute.
|
|
12:03 a.m. |
One-minute call placed from Carruth's home to Kennedy's cell phone. |
|
12:17 a.m. |
One-minute call placed from Carruth's home to Carolina Panther Hannibal Navies' home. |
|
12:19 a.m. |
One-minute call placed from Carruth's home to Kennedy's cell phone. |
|
12:19 a.m. |
Adams places a call from her cell phone to her apartment. The call lasts three minutes, 24 seconds. According to her cousin, Modre Floyd, who says he answered the phone, Adams asked him to clean up a bit since Carruth was coming over unexpectedly. |
|
12:21 a.m. |
Call placed from Kennedy's cell phone to Carruth's old cell phone number. |
|
12:22 a.m. |
Call placed from Kennedy's cell phone to Carruth's cell phone. Duration: 21 seconds. |
| 12:27
a.m. |
Carruth places a call to a
girlfriend in Atlanta from his cell phone.
The conversation lasts 16 minutes.
|
| Between
12:34 a.m. & 12:36 a.m. |
A gold Nissan Maxima pulls
up alongside Adams and opens fire. She is
struck with four bullets.
|
| 12:31
a.m. |
A hysterical Adams calls 911
and tells the operator she's been shot.
During the ten minute call, she says Carruth
was in front of her and that she believes
he had something to do with it.
|
| Approximately
12:45 a.m. |
Police arrive and find Adams'
vehicle is the only one at the scene. Adams
is rushed to Carolinas Medical Center.
|
|
THE
AFTERMATH
|
| Nov.
16 |
Doctors perform an emergency
Caesarian section and deliver Chancellor Lee
Adams ten weeks early. Carruth is seen at
the hospital. He declines to be interviewed
by Charlotte-Mecklenburg investigators, but
consents to a police search of his home and
car. |
| Nov.
25 |
On Thanksgiving Day, Carruth
is arrested and charged with conspiracy to
commit first-degree murder, attempted murder
and shooting into an occupied vehicle. Police
also arrest Watkins and charge him with the
same. |
| Nov.
26 |
Kennedy is arrested and charged.
Carruth's bond, initially set at $1.5 million
by District Judge Jerome Leonard, is doubled
hours later when the judge exercised his right
to reconsider. |
| Dec.
1 |
Carruth's lawyers make an unsuccessful
bid to reduce the $3 million bond at a hearing. |
| Dec.
2 |
The Carolina Panthers puts
Carruth on unpaid leave. Abraham is arrested
and charged. |
| Dec.
6 |
A grand jury indicts the four
suspects for attempted murder, conspiracy
to commit first-degree murder, shooting into
an occupied vehicle and assault with a deadly
weapon. |
| Dec.
7 |
Carruth posts bond and is released
on the condition that he turn himself in if
either Adams or baby Chancellor die. |
| Dec.
14 |
Adams dies of multiple organ
failure. Charges against all four suspects
are upgraded to murder. Carruth flees to Tennessee
in the trunk of a friend's car. |
| Dec.
15 |
Acting on a tip from Carruth's
bailbondsman (who had been informed by Carruth's
mother, Theodry), the FBI captures Carruth
in a motel parking lot in Wildersville, Tenn.
Carruth breaks his silence and agrees to give
a statement the FBI. In it he denies involvement
in the shooting. |
| Dec.
16 |
Adams' mother, Saundra Adams,
is awarded temporary custody of Chancellor. |
| Dec.
19 |
After waiving extradition,
Carruth is transported back to South Carolina. |
| Dec.
21 |
Carruth appears in court and
is held without bail. Prosecutors announce
they will seek the death penalty. |
| Dec.
23 |
Carruth fires his lawyers and
hires renowned Chapel Hill attorney David
Rudolf. |
| Dec.
30 |
A paternity test proves Carruth
is Chancellor's biological father. |
| Dec.
31 |
Chancellor is released from
the hospital and goes home with his maternal
grandmother. |
| Jan.
4, 2000 |
A grand jury indicts Carruth,
Watkins, Kennedy and Abraham for murder, conspiracy
and using a gun to kill an unborn child. |
| Jan.
14 |
Carruth offers to pay $3000
a month in child support for Chancellor, matching
the amount of support he provides his 6-year-old
son in California. |
| Mar.
20 |
Saundra Adams petitions the
court for control of Carruth's assets in order
to support Chancellor. |
| Apr.
18 |
Carruth asks court for visitation
with Chancellor. |
| May
16 |
A judge orders Carruth to sell
his home and liquidate his retirement account
to pay child support from behind bars. |
| May
28 |
Prosecutors offer all four
defendants plea bargains which would spare
them a capital punishment but guarantee lengthy
prison terms. |
| July
5 |
Carruth's attorneys announce
that the former football player will not accept
a plea offer. |
| July
31 |
Watkins accepts the offer and
pleads guilty to second-degree murder in exchange
for testifying against Carruth. |
| August
1 |
Over objections by Saundra
Adams, judge allows Carruth to see his son
and Theodry Carruth brings Chancellor to visit
him in Mecklenburg County Jail. |
| Oct.
18 |
The defense files a motion
citing a prison sergeant's statement that
Watkins confessed to him that he shot Adams
after Carruth refused to loan him money for
a drug deal, not because Carruth commissioned
him for murder. |
|
THE
TRIAL
|
|
Oct. 23 |
Jury selection begins. |
|
Nov. 6 |
Defense charges that prosecutors are bias against prospective black jurors, particularly males. |
|
Nov. 7 |
Judge Charles Lamm finds no bias by prosecutors. |
|
Nov. 8 |
Twelfth juror seated. |
|
Nov. 14 |
Last of four alternates picked and jury selection is complete. |
|
Nov. 20 |
Defense attorney David Rudolf and prosecutor Gentry Caudill deliver opening statements; jury hears 911 tape and Cherica Adams' notes. |
|
Dec. 7 |
State rests its case. |
|
Dec. 11 |
Defense begins calling witnesses. |
|
Jan. 3 |
Defense rests its case.
|
|
Jan. 9 |
After rebuttal testimony for the state and sur-rebuttal testimony for the defense, testimony ends in the trial.
|
|
Jan. 15 |
Both sides present closing statements.
|
|
Jan. 16 |
Jury begins deliberating after state offers final plea for conviction in a rebuttal closing.
|
|
Jan. 18 |
Jury tells Judge Charles Lamm they are deadlocked, but Lamm sends them back to deliberations.
|
|
Jan. 19 |
Jury reaches a verdict: not guilty of first-degree murder; guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and using an instrument to destroy an unborn child.
|
|
Jan. 22 |
Sentencing hearing.
|
