| | CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rae Carruth's assets were frozen Thursday
after it was determined the former Carolina Panthers player is the
father of his slain girlfriend's child.
Judge Yvonne Mims Evans released the results of DNA tests that
showed there was a 99.9 percent probability Carruth is the father
of Chancellor Lee Adams.
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| Carruth |
Evans said Carruth's assets would be frozen with the exception
of $35,000 he can use to help pay for his lawyers. Carruth and four
other men are being held without bail on first-degree murder and
related charges in the slaying of Cherica Adams.
Carruth was wearing an orange Mecklenburg County jail jumpsuit
and was handcuffed when deputies escorted him into the courtroom Thursday.
He did not speak during the brief hearing.
Defense lawyer Kenneth Spaulding said he and his client were
satisfied with the judge's order, which was worked out before the
hearing by the lawyers.
"He wants to do as much as he has been doing and be supportive
in this matter," Spaulding told the judge, who scheduled a child
support hearing for next month.
During a custody hearing last week, Spaulding told Evans that
Carruth went to birthing classes with Adams and helped her during
her pregnancy. Carruth was at the hospital the night Adams was shot
and the baby was born, Spaulding said.
The baby, 10 weeks short of full term when he was delivered
after his mother's Nov. 16 shooting, was in fair condition Thursday
at Carolinas Medical Center. His mother died Dec. 14.
Saundra Adams, the mother of Cherica Adams, has been awarded
temporary custody of her grandchild and is seeking permanent
custody.
Jay Ferguson, a lawyer for the Adams family, declined to say
what kind of financial support, if any, Carruth is giving to the
child.
"We're just certainly hopeful that one way or another,
Chancellor receives support from his father," Ferguson said.
While prosecutors haven't said why they think Adams was killed,
Saundra Adams said Carruth initially wanted Cherica Adams to have
an abortion when he learned she was pregnant.
Prosecutors said Carruth instigated a murder plot. They plan to
seek the death penalty.
Carruth, 25, the Panthers' first-round draft choice in 1997,
earned about $38,000 a game until he was waived by the team earlier
this month and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. He is the first
active NFL player to be charged with murder.
Also charged with first-degree murder in the case are William Watkins, 44;
Michael Kennedy, 24; and Stanley Abraham Jr., 19.
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