Nearing the end of an 18-year sentence for having his pregnant girlfriend killed, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth reportedly said he would not start a relationship with his disabled adult son.
In a letter sent to The Charlotte Observer, Carruth, 44, told the public to “calm down” because he does not intend to have a relationship with his disabled 18-year-old son, Chancellor Lee Adams, upon his October 22 release. Chancellor lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his maternal grandmother, Saundra Adams.
“I will no longer be pursuing a relationship with Chancellor and Ms. Adams. I promise to leave them be, which I now see is in everyone’s best interest,” he wrote.
(The latest letter can be read in its entirety below.)
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Carruth recently expressed interest in gaining custody of his son once he’s out of prison. Carruth was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in 2001 for the 1999 shooting death of Cherica Adams, his pregnant girlfriend.
Cherica–seven months pregnant with Carruth’s child–was driving her BMW when she was shot four times by a gunman Carruth hired. The 24-year-old died a month after the shooting.
Gunman Van Brett Watkins was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years while the getaway driver was released in 2011.
Police believed that Carruth arranged his girlfriend’s murder to avoid paying child support. However, in his first letter addressed to WBTV, Carruth claimed the murder had more to do with Cherica refusing to get an abortion.
Chancellor has cerebral palsy and permanent brain damage due to the traumatic nature of his birth. Carruth has only met his son twice while in prison but says he’s kept an eye on him and his progress through media coverage.
In his first letter, Carruth also urged Saundra, 60, to be mindful of her mortality as someone will need to care for Chancellor once she dies. Saundra cares for Chancellor as he’s unable to live on his own.
“I should be raising my son,” he told the station late last month. “His mother should be raising her son. Ms. Adams should not be doing this and I want that responsibility back. I feel like he might not ever have his mother in his life but he could still have me and I could still make a difference and I don’t think that’s anyone’s responsibility when I’m still here.”
At the time, Saundra told The Observer that she doesn’t plan to die anytime soon and that she has people in line to care for her grandson if something were to happen to her.
Carruth instructed the newspaper to provide a copy of his latest letter to Saundra. A reporter who read the note to Saundra over the phone said she had no response.
[Featured Image: Rae Carruth/WBTV; Chancellor Lee Adams/WBTV video screenshot]
