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NFL | Carolina Panthers | When Rae Carruth is released from prison, Chancellor Adams will be there | | The Charlotte Observer
This young man, Lee, sounds like an incredible person. Having been born with brain damage and cerebral palsy from the incident, he has worked hard every day his entire life just to be able to accomplish basic tasks, including feeding and dressing himself. He will need some sort of assistance for the rest of his life. I've personally worked with patients with CP, and it is similar to ALS, where the mind is sound but trapped in a disabled body.
The grandmother, Saundra, sounds like an amazing person, full of love. These are extraordinary people. I am inspired by their approach to life and commitment to peace and love. I can't imagine what it will be like for them to approach Rae with open hearts.
The boy’s mother, Cherica Adams, was murdered in 1999. She was killed because of a murder conspiracy masterminded by Carruth, the first-round draft choice of the Carolina Panthers in 1997. Carruth wanted to kill his on-and-off girlfriend because she was eight months pregnant with his child and he didn’t want to pay child support. He hired a hit man to pull the trigger.
That baby is now this boy. He will turn 17 in November – only seven years younger than his mother was when she died. His name is Chancellor Lee Adams.
Carruth, 42, won’t be in prison too much longer. He has served about 90 percent of his sentence. His projected release date is two years away – Oct. 22, 2018.
Saundra Adams long ago decided to choose happiness over bitterness and to forgive Rae Carruth for his role in her daughter’s murder.
Carruth never has apologized – or publicly acknowledged he did anything wrong. He declined my interview request for this story.
Adams says her deep Christian faith has helped her forgive Carruth. What she longs for now is for her grandson – who bears a startling resemblance to his father – to have some sort of relationship with his only living parent.
Asked how she envisions the day that Carruth is released, she says: “I would like Chancellor and I to be there so he could officially meet his son. Even if it’s for a few minutes – just have an embrace with his son.
“Maybe I can just talk to him and tell him some important things about what his son is doing, and where he is in life.”
“What the Panthers did was distance themselves from Rae Carruth when this happened,” Adams says. “He was their team member, and they cut him from the team. I don’t blame the Panthers organization (for not reaching out to help Carruth’s son). Of course, I think it would have been nice if they had done something, because they do support a lot of different charitable causes. But I think to do so may have put them in a situation they didn’t want to be in.”
This young man, Lee, sounds like an incredible person. Having been born with brain damage and cerebral palsy from the incident, he has worked hard every day his entire life just to be able to accomplish basic tasks, including feeding and dressing himself. He will need some sort of assistance for the rest of his life. I've personally worked with patients with CP, and it is similar to ALS, where the mind is sound but trapped in a disabled body.
The grandmother, Saundra, sounds like an amazing person, full of love. These are extraordinary people. I am inspired by their approach to life and commitment to peace and love. I can't imagine what it will be like for them to approach Rae with open hearts.