True Crime Friday: The Case of Cherica Adams

Ninetoes is on the beat with The Case of Cherica Adams of 1997.

Hey there, true crime lovers! It is your favorite investigator, I have my notebook in hand and coffee in my system, so let’s get to it!

Rae Carruth was a rising star in the NFL on the Carolina Panthers team. This is a man who had it all: fame, wealth, fancy sports cars, the adoration of a city, and a pregnant girlfriend. There’s the kicker, right? You have it all, and you are about to be saddled with a child. There is an old saying my mother once said to me when she found out I was sexually active, “Son, if you are gonna play, you will have to pay.” Rae played, but did he want to pay?

Rae Carruth’s girlfriend was Cherica Louvenia Adams. She was born in June 1975 and was raised by her mother, Saundra Adams, and her grandparents. She dropped out of Winston-Salem University in North Carolina and got a job in real estate. She would eventually get a job as an exotic dancer to make ends meet.

On November 16, 1999, after a date with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Rae Carruth, she was following Rae when he slowed down, and another car pulled up beside hers and shot her five times. Four of the shots hit her neck and back. The shots had perforated her liver, stomach, and intestines. She was able to call 911 and report that she had been shot. Cherica was rushed to the hospital, and her baby was saved. On December 14, 1999, Cherica was taken off life support, and she died of organ failure.

During their investigation, the authorities learned that Cherica wanted to keep her baby, while Rae was encouraging her to get an abortion. The investigators looked into Carruth’s phone records and came across the name Michael Kennedy, who was a known drug dealer and friend to Carruth.

Kennedy’s admission revealed a murder-for-hire plot. It started when Carruth asked Van Watkins, “How much would it take to beat up a girl and make her abort the baby?” Watkins replied, “I don’t beat up a girl, I kill people.” Watkins claimed that Carruth mentioned many ways to kill Cherica Adams, and it was decided to ambush her after Carruth’s and Adams’ date was over. Also present at this meeting were Michael Kennedy and his friend Stanley Abraham.

Michael Kennedy was driving the car when they pulled up beside Cherica Adams, and Van Watkins fired into the car five times, and they sped off. Rae Carruth was arrested and posted $3 million in bond, on the condition that if either Cherica Adams or the baby died, he would turn himself in. When Cherica died, Carruth fled.

Authorities caught up to Rae in Eastern Tennessee. He was hiding in the trunk of a friend’s car. He had energy bars, a phone, money, and empty bottles to urinate into.

Of the four accused of the murder (Rae Carruth, Michael Kennedy, Van Watkins, and Stanley Abraham), only Rae went to trial. Van Watkins and Michael Kennedy testified during the proceedings, as well as Candace Smith, a former girlfriend of Carruth’s, who testified that Carruth admitted to the ambush, and Amber Turner, another ex-girlfriend, who testified that Carruth threatened to kill her if she did not get an abortion.

Michael Kennedy and Stanley Abraham pleaded guilty to other charges and served eleven and ninety days in prison consecutively.

In 2001, Van Watkins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 40 years and 5 months. He is incarcerated in Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is expected to be released in 2045.

In 2001, Rae Carruth was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied property, and using an instrument with intent to destroy an unborn child. He was sentenced to serve 18 to 24 years in prison. He was released in October 2018.

Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue is a book and media reviewer. When he is not reading, he is watching true crime shows, cooking for his family, or working on a plan for universal domination. If you see him on his porch, say hi. He does not bite…much.

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