Rae Carruth

From a young age, Carruth told his mother, a social worker, that he wanted to be a famous football player. In high school, he excelled on the playing field and was named an All-American. He was very popular with other students, who voted him prom king twice. In the classroom, he struggled, however. In order to qualify for a college sport scholarship, he had to retake several courses.

The University of Colorado recruited him as a wide receiver in 1992, and Carruth did not disappoint scouts. He earned first-string All-American status and many at Colorado thought he was the best in the school's history. He maintained a B average and a clean disciplinary record.

The Carolina Panthers selected him as their first-round draft pick in 1997. He signed a four-year contract worth $3.7 million and grabbed a spot as a starting wide receiver on the team's line up.

The sweetness of turning pro was tempered by a paternity suit filed by Michelle Wright, an acquaintance from Sacramento. Carruth fathered a son, Rae, by Wright. In 1997, he was ordered to pay her $3,500 per month in child support.

Carruth's first season was a success, but he found himself confined to the sidelines by a broken foot in 1998 and by a sprained ankle in 1999. His mother claims that he still believed he had a promising future. But prosecutors say his personal life was sliding into disorder.

Carruth lived in a $240,000 home and pulled down $38,000 per game, but according to the state, he still had financial problems. He lost money in an apparent pyramid scheme, and was being sued for reneging on the purchase of a house. Adams was only one of several women he was casually dating, and according to her mother, he initially pressured her to have an abortion. Her family says that for a time he seemed excited about the baby, but when he injured his ankle in Oct. 1999, he stopped showing interest. Less than a month later she was shot.

Cherica Adams

Adams was raised in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. She was nicknamed Cookie because of her childhood fondness for sweets. She moved to Charlotte as a teenager, and in high school, was involved in Students Against Violence Everywhere and danced at sporting events with a group called the Letter Girls.

She knew professional athletes during high school. She interned for the Panthers organization and babysat for the children of some Charlotte Hornets players.

After high school, she spent two years at Winston-Salem State University and then dabbled in modeling, real estate and exotic dancing. Friends describe her as outgoing and sweet, and her mother, Saundra, said her daughter was committed to self-improvement, even hanging inspirational phrases around her apartment.

She socialized with many pro athletes — reportedly including basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Larry Johnson. There have been conflicting accounts of how Adams met Carruth. Her family says the couple was introduced at a party given by another football player, but coworkers at a strip bar told The New York Times, they met at the topless club.

When Adams became pregnant, she was overjoyed even though it was unplanned. She went to maternity classes, kept a journal of her pregnancy and painstakingly selected the name Chancellor for her son.

Van Brett Watkins

Watkins admits pumping four bullets into Cherica Adams. He cut a deal with prosecutors after telling them Carruth had hired him as a hit man. Under the plea deal, Watkins will avoid the death penalty, but face more than 50 years in prison. He is required to testify against Carruth.

In October, the defense filed documents suggesting a different motive for the killing. According to those documents, Watkins admitted killing Adams in a rage after she made an obscene gesture at him.

Watkins, 40, split his time between Charlotte and Atlanta. The defense alleges he was running drugs between the two cities, and the state has acknowledged he was dealing. In Atlanta, he also worked as a bouncer at a strip club. In Charlotte, he did odd jobs for Carruth, including detailing his car and building a fence.

He has a long rap sheet in New York. He served three years in prison in the early 1980s for attempted assault and possession of a weapon. He was back in prison in 1987 for criminal mischief and grand larceny of an auto. In 1997, he was arrested for threatening a woman with a meat cleaver, forcing her into a car, beating her and threatening her with knives.

The defense maintains that Watkins is also psychotic. In court documents, they claim he requires daily doses of Thorazine, an anti-psychotic, and has behaved bizarrely since his arrest. During one court hearing, he was heard singing and screaming profanities from his holding cell and sheriff's officers report that he has threatened to throw urine and feces at them.

Watkins' plea deal requires him to testify against Carruth. If he does, he will avoid the death penalty, but face more than 50 years in prison at sentencing.

Michael Kennedy

Kennedy, 25, allegedly drove the car. He has a criminal record that includes a 1997 conviction for carrying

Drew "Boss" Abraham

a concealed weapons. According to The Charlotte Observer, the father of two is a Charlotte native who met Watkins and Carruth because of their shared interest in cars.

Kennedy's former next-door neighbor and best friend is Abraham, 20. He allegedly rode in the passenger seat. He has no criminal record and was living with his parents before his arrest. He met Carruth through Kennedy two days before the shooting.

Abraham's family and friends told the Observer that he is a deeply religious young man who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Caudill is assisted by David Graham, 53, who has experience as a federal prosecutor and a public defender. He has won five death verdicts.

Also for the state is Jack Knight, 33. He is working on his first death penalty trial and supervises a unit of prosecutors that handle violent crimes.

David Rudolf

Rudolf is assisted by his firm partner, Chris Fialko. This is Fialko's first capital case.