Rae Carruth leaves prison and fears "hatred and negativity towards me"

After spending nearly two decades in jail, former Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth left the North Carolina detention center Monday morning after being charged with planning the murder of Cherica Adams, the mother. of his unborn child.

The 44-year-old former NFL player, released from the Sampson County Correctional Center in Clinton, North Carolina, shortly after Monday at 8 am, said he was feeling "terribly remorseful" "for his role in the 1999 shooting that killed Adams, who was seven months pregnant when she was shot. Their son was born with cerebral palsy as a result of oxygen deprivation.

"I'm delighted to be here," CNN affiliate Carruth said several days before his release, after nearly 18 years in prison. "I'm nervous about how I'm going to be received by the public. I have to work again. I still have to live. I must exist and it seems that there is so much hatred and negativity towards me. "

His lawyer, David Rudolf, told WRAL that "Rae was hanging around with people he should not have been with" at the time of Adams' murder. He referred in particular to Van Brett Watkins, who had been convicted of second degree murder and had also testified against the former NFL player. Prosecutors argued that Carruth had hired Watkins to kill Adams because he did not want to pay child support; In January 2001, the former receiver was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. He had used an instrument with the intention of destroying an unborn child and had unloaded a firearm from an occupied property. The jurors found Carruth not guilty of first degree murder, but jurors later stated that they would have found him guilty in the second degree, if that had been done in his place.

The jury's decision kept the death penalty out of the way, paving the way for Carruth's 18 to 24 year sentence. Watkins will be in jail until at least 2046; He told a journalist from Charlotte Observer that he had already committed four murders in other cities but that he had not disclosed details. Michael Kennedy, who obtained the rifle that was used and drove the car in the vehicle, testified against Carruth and was released in 2011. Stanley Abraham, a passenger in the driver's car, served for less than two years and published in 2001.

[From murder mystery to love story: A reporter’s two decades covering Rae Carruth]

On the night of filming, Carruth and Adams went to see the movie "The Bone Collector", taking separate cars to the theater. Afterwards, with Adams following him, Carruth stopped and Adams approached him. The car wearing Watkins was parked next to Adams and bullets were fired while Carruth was moving away at full speed. He went to the home of Hannibal Navies, a teammate of the Panthers, and played video games there. Adams, who delivered his son immediately, lived about a month after the shooting. Her powerful call to 911, in which she named Carruth as involved, contributed to her conviction.

Carruth still claims that he had no plans to have Adams killed, but acknowledged his responsibility for what happened to his former girlfriend. "What he said was, it was my fault. I was not trying to get her killed, but I am morally responsible, and he feels great remorse, "said Rudolf, his lawyer.

Rudolph stated that he hoped that Carruth, who also has a grown-up son from a previous relationship, could achieve "some sort of reconciliation" with Adams' son, the Chancellor, and with Saundra Adams, the grandmother who raised her. Carruth obtained a barber certificate in prison and announced his intention to return to his state of California after his release.

"It has matured," said Rudolf. "He's a lot more introspective than before and I think he wants to get out of North Carolina."

Last February, Carruth wrote an open letter to Saundra Adams, apologizing for the death of Cherica Adams and the difficulties faced by Chancellor Adams.

"If I could change something, I would change the whole situation," wrote Carruth in the letter, obtained by WBTV. "His mother would always be here and I would not be where I am. That's what I would like to change. I want the incident never happened. "

Although Carruth wrote that he wanted to raise his son, he quickly changed his mind, according to the Charlotte Observer.

"For everyone involved or invested in this ordeal, please calm down," wrote Carruth. "I will not continue any relationship with the Chancellor and Mrs. Adams. I promise to let them live, which, in my opinion, is in the interest of all. "

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