Hitman Who Shot Former Carolina Panther’s Pregnant Girlfriend Dies In Prison

After going to prison, Van Brett Watkins became a Muslim and changed his life.

The hitman who shocked the nation after claiming former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth hired him to kill his pregnant girlfriend passed away at 63 in a North Carolina prison.

A spokesperson from the N.C. Department of Adult Correction says Van Brett Watkins died from natural causes on Dec. 3 and was hospitalized at the time of his death. Watkins spent over 20 years of his 50-year sentence behind bars after being found guilty of the murder of Cherica Adams and the attempted murder of her son, Chancellor Lee.

The murder is known as one of the most notorious crimes in Charlotte, North Carolina. During Carruth’s murder trial in 2000, Watkins pointed the finger at the former NFL player for hiring him to kill Adams and her unborn child. The prosecution labeled the motive as Carruth not wanting to pay child support since he was already paying support for another child. Watkins was already facing a laundry list of felonies when he said the 1997 first-round draft pick continued to badger him to go along with the plans. However, in prison, he turned his life around as a practicing Muslim.

Saundra Adams spoke with WSOC-TV about Watkins’s death and said it’s no coincidence.

“It’s no coincidence that to me he passed away 24 years ago in December after he took my daughter’s life, and that Chancellor is now 24 years old,” she said. Before he passed away, She said Watkins reached out to her in hopes she would come to visit him. In an interview following his conviction, Watkins apologized for this murder and said he thought about Chancellor every day. “Every day I think of Mrs. Adams, every day I think of Chancellor, and every day I think of Cherica Adams and the wrong that I did,” Watkins said.

After praying about visiting him, the elder Adams declined his request, saying none of the questions she wanted to ask would bring her daughter back.

Watkins shot Adams drive-by style in November 1999 while she was sitting in her car in south Charlotte. She was hit 12 times but was able to make a 12-minute 911 call that saved her baby’s life. Adams told the 911 operator that Carruth was driving in a separate car at the time of the crime. Adams passed away from her injuries a month later. Her baby, Chancellor, now 24, was born prematurely and faced severe disabilities, including cerebral palsy. However, after being raised by his grandmother, Saundra, Chancellor was able to graduate from high school.

Carruth was convicted and served close to 19 years for conspiracy to commit murder. He was released in 2018.