Mugshots: Rae Carruth - NFL Hitman | Forensic Files

[Music] He had a weakness for the women and the women had a weakness for him. [Applause]
Football hero Ray Kuth drove away and left Shereek Adams and his own son for dead.
He could not have done this heinous crime. He couldn't have couldn't even been a part of it. You know, a man
that's making that much money and he's doing good and just doesn't make any sense to me.
[Music] [Music] Section 325. Section 325. Come get your grub. Go Panthers. Go Panthers.
For the second time in a decade, the nation is witnessing a trial of a pro football star in connection with a
brutal murder. First, it was OJ Simpson, and now it's another young man from California. His name is Ray Kut.
Kuth was accused of ordering the murder of his pregnant girlfriend. We had not had a crime quite this
shocking in Charlotte in my memory. Professional athletes had been a real feather in our cap and um to imagine
something like this happening was was very shocking. Things like that just don't happen.
Police alleged that on November 16th, 1999, a hit team under orders from Kuth ambushed Sherekica Adams in the middle
of the night. What made this crime so disturbing was that Adams was pregnant with Kuth's child.
I was basically sitting in this position reading and uh I heard the gunshots and
I went to my back door to look across the fence at Ray Road to see if I could see anything. Yes. Ray Road.
You're right at Ray Road in Calvary Church, huh? Yes. I saw her car in the intersection of the neighboring street.
What kind of car you in? Black BMW. A black BMW. What's wrong with you? Have an accident?
No, she's been shot, medic. Okay. The lights were flashing and and uh then the car pulled into my driveway and then it
turned and come across the front of my lawn. and uh and the horn continued to blow.
She's at Ray Road at Calvary Church. That's what she's telling me. She said Wes Square earlier. She's pregnant also.
All right, man. We'll go get that amus on the way to you. Okay. Of the five shots fired at Shereekica
Adams, four hit her in the neck and back. She was rushed to Carolina's medical center where the baby, a boy she
named Chancellor Lee Adams, was delivered 10 weeks prematurely by cesarian section. It could very well be
that her phone call saved the life of the child. There's no telling how long it would have taken to find her if she
hadn't been able to make that phone call. As investigators gathered evidence, Kuth
voluntarily spoke to police and reportedly pointed them in the direction of two men named William Watkins and
Michael Kennedy, who in turn reportedly pointed the finger back at him. Then on Thanksgiving Day, one week after the
shooting, as Adams lay clinging to life in her hospital bed, police made a dramatic announcement. This
investigation has resulted in the arrest of the below listed person for conspiracy to commit first-degree
murder, attempted murder, and shooting into an occupied building. Excuse me. Hey, don't you want to say anything
about whether you did this or not? Kuth was taken from his home at dawn that morning and arrested.
people within Charlotte were, you know, already upset about the horrific nature of a pregnant woman essentially being
assassinated and then to have it um be a high-profile person who was arrested made it even worse if that was possible.
We don't know what's going on. We don't know any of the details of what's really
happened, but uh you know, we we really feel for the the families involved. It's
it's got to be a terrible thing to carry today and uh you know, it's just a sad day. So, I don't know any of the details
or anything more than I'm disappointed that it's come to this. The following week, the Carolina Panthers suspended
Kuth. Just everybody just pray, you know, just pray. This is this is just not Ry. This
is not something that um we were expecting the arrest or anything like that. Anybody who knows Ry knows that this is
just totally out of character. This is not my son. Kuth's three accompllices, Watkins, Kennedy, and a 19-year-old
named Stanley Abraham, were also arrested and would remain behind bars in lie of one half million dollars bail
each. But on December 6th, after 12 days in the county jail, Kuth posted a $3 million bond and was released.
One week later, the stakes changed. My friends said to me, they said, "Well, I don't understand why you're so upset."
Everybody knew that she was going to die. And I started thinking to myself, "Well, was I really being realistic or I
just never thought she would die." On December 14th, Sherekica Adams died after being in a coma for nearly a
month. Police immediately issued a new arrest warrant for Kuth on uprated charges of firstdegree murder. They went
to Kuth's house to try and figure out where he was, and they couldn't find him. And gradually more and more time
started going by, and it became quite clear that he wasn't around. Kuth did something nobody expected.
He took off with a local hairdresser named Wendy Cole in her Toyota Camry under the cover of night.
She was described as having a longterm friendship with Ray Karuth and um throughout the night the police
continued to search by him fleeting and running that really didn't make him too good. So I mean he could have took a
better way about doing it and came to um the public first or came to whoever he needed to come through to clear his name
first. You run because you're afraid. I mean you just the fear of your freedom. I mean, you've done nothing wrong.
Everybody's hung you out to dry. They've already convicted you. They didn't try you. They just convicted you. People
don't know what fear will make them do. So, they need to ask themselves, in this
case, you're 25 years old at the time. You've never been in trouble. Um, you've never had dealings with the law. You've
been locked down for 12 days by yourself. What would you do? Would you just jump up and go back to jail? Ray
Kut was on the run as his family, the Charlotte police, and ultimately the FBI would hunt for the fleeing wide
receiver. Coming up, those close to him search for clues. And the more you heard, the more the story started to
evolve, the more you just like this is something not right about this. And I don't really think that he's capable of
having her murder. [Music] Ray Kuth had vanished from Charlotte. He was now an accused murderer on the run,
charged with the gruesome crime of killing his pregnant girlfriend. But the image of this mysterious outlaw is in
stark contrast to the gentle, dedicated young man that his friends knew. Clearly, he was charming and did have a
lot of women friends. Ray was a lot of fun to be around. I believe he was in kindergarten and he
was asked to draw a picture of what he wanted to be when he grew up and he drew himself standing between football
goalposts. That dream would become his ticket out of this workingclass neighborhood where
he grew up in Sacramento, California. He carried that idea with him throughout his young adult life and did everything
he could to pursue that dream. [Music] I couldn't believe my eyes. Dave Hoskins remembers the first time he saw Ray
Karuth in action. It was just days after Hoskins had arrived at Sacramento's Valley High as the new head coach of the
varsity football team. And I saw this guy fly around the track and I I asked one of the coaches, "Who is that?" And
they said, "That's Ray Kuth. He's a sophomore. He's not on the varsity." I said, "Yes, he is." And we're going to
bring him up. I can quick seal guys, can I? The veteran high school and college coach had a feeling he was looking at a
future NFL star. I think he caught 11 balls for 221 yards. And uh people were kind of
shocked. How could a 15year-old sophomore have that kind of a game? Was it a oneame thing or or did this kid
have a a career? And and he just went on from there doing the same types of things game after game. In his three
years under Hoskins at Valley High, Kuth broke school records, made the all city
team as a sophomore, and became an all-American as a senior. Great speed, very seldom hurt. I mean, he took some
hits, but he was very, very physical kid. Uh would never want to come out of the game even though he was dinged up.
Uh he was very tough. Very tough, but apparently not without passion. We got beat in a very important game. He felt
it was his fault. And the following Monday, we're talking to the team after practice. We played on Friday. He's in
the back of the group crying his eyes out. That's three days later. As Kuth's star status grew, he turned to his coach
who began to fill a void in his life. See the difference? Why? His uh biological father went overseas
real soon after he was born. Uh his mother soon after that, married his stepfather. And that marriage broke up
when Kuth was about 14 years old. Our neighborhood was a middle-class neighborhood. Everybody worked. I
worked. She did her best as a single mother to uh to raise him and instill values in him. I raised Ry from a young
man to a great man. My son has morals. He has values. Ray didn't smoke, drink, or do drugs. He was a mentor. He loves
children, and children love him. Kuth was on his way to a football scholarship at a major college, but academically he
wasn't making the grade. his junior year, uh, we got a copy of his grades. He had a 151. Very embarrassing
situation. He had to go back and take freshman classes to sit in there with 14 year olds as a a 17, 18 year old senior.
And he's a star on campus. And here he is in freshman classes. But he knew that that was his only way out and he did it.
He did perform well enough in high school to win a scholarship to the University of Colorado, which is was a
real milestone for his family. None of his cousins had gone to college and it was a real point of pride for the folks
who knew him in Sacramento. And a popular homecoming prince of Valley High would leave behind a string of broken
hearts. He was very popular in school. Uh his friends and family even used the term ladies man to describe him.
Extremely good-looking kid. Very good-looking kid. And they Yeah, I can imagine.
But one of those many high school girlfriends would later become the mother of Kuth's child. Long before
Sherekica Adams would come along, he'd recklessly succumb to the charms of another young woman named Michelle
Wright. At age 20, Ray Kut had become the father of a baby boy named Rolando. And while he and Michelle Wright did not
get married, Kuth was by all accounts a proud and happy father with every reason
to believe he could give the child a good life. Little Ray stays in Sacramento and I do keep in contact with
my grandson as well as his mother. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Kuth was already a star at the
University of Colorado, both as a football player and as an English major. And again, Kuth was breaking all kinds
of records. He ran track at Colorado uh his first three years there and he was in what they call the NFL hundred at
Stanford University that he won with track guys that are prospective NFL guys in his junior year. Kuth knew he had a
big future ahead of him. That kindergarten drawing of a dream, that childhood fantasy of being a pro
football player. At age 23, it all came true for Ray Karu. He had signed a 3.7 million contract with a with a signing
bonus that was over a million dollars. [Music] The Carolina Panthers had snapped up the
Colorado sensation as a firstround draft pick in 1997. And I think right now, you
know, they they want me to speed along and hopefully when we get in the game, you know, I'll be able to produce to so
they can feel comfortable with putting me in. He did so well during his rookie season that there was every reason to
believe that the Panthers hopes when they drafted him that he would become a star. There was every reason to believe
that that was going to happen. Kuth had a brilliant first season leading all other NFL rookies with 44 catches and
545 receiving yards. just to see him sitting on the sidelines and and sitting there with all those NFL receivers and
quarterbacks and he blended right in. I mean, he was sitting there and they were
having a great time and uh that that's really a proud moment to see a guy that was with you and now he's gone on to the
to the ultimate. [Music] Off the field in Charlotte, Kuth maintained the reputation he had in high
school and college. Definitely a ladies man. Lisa Crawford is the owner of Crawford's Beastro, a favorite Charlotte
hangout for Kuth and his Panther teammates. I saw him with different females here and there. Uh sometimes it
was hard to tell who was a friend and who was a romantic interest. This was Ray's favorite table. He ate
here most of the times when he came here. If it was available, he wanted to sit here. Um, he was kind of quiet. Um,
but other times he was sort of the life of the party. It just so happens it was at a pool
party at the home of former Panther Ernie Mills that Kuth is said to have met Sherekica Adams. By all accounts, he
was immediately taken with the striking beauty. And I think it was the way that she carried herself, the way she
dressed. She was a very, very pretty lady. And I think that just about any room that she would go into, men would
look. Kuth reportedly asked a friend to introduce him to Sherekica. They apparently did hit it off right away,
and they ended up at that same party spending 40 minutes talking together outside the house. That conversation
would lead first to dates, a relationship, and then a pregnancy that would result in tragedy. When we come
back, the secrets of Sherekica Adams and the bizarre capture of Ray Kut. A beautiful young woman is dead. A
promising football star is on trial for his life. The tragic murder mystery involving Sherekica Adams and Ray Kuth.
Began as an innocent romance in June 1998. He and Shar were closer than others. I
saw him with her more than anyone else. Uh, their relationship seem to be a little more intimate. I would say
they're two peas in a pot. [Music] Crystal Clark is a realtor who helped Kar buy this quarter million dollar
house in one of Charlotte's nicest neighborhoods. She was also friends with Sherekica.
They met four years ago through the realy business. She was in Atlanta a lot. She was still living here in
Charlotte but traveling to Atlanta also. her brother was trying to get into the music industry and she was interested in
being a producer. So, she was actually trying to help him. And after she found out she was pregnant, that led her back
to Charlotte. So, I think she was still trying to do the real estate. Sherekica Adams grew up just outside Charlotte.
And like Karut, she was raised in a workingclass neighborhood by a single mother, Sandra Adams. And Sherekica was
also determined to succeed against the odds. She was very articulate. She's very smart, very motivated. Anything
that she set her mind to, she could do it. Anything. At a very young age, she was always, you know, professionally
dressed. In high school, Sherekica wore skirts and blazers. She wore her hair up
in a French roll. And I always used to tease her about how she looked like one of the teachers there. Liia Quick looked
up to Sherekica. They met in 10th grade when Sherekica approached Leia, the new kid in school. They were fast friends.
My friendship with Sherekica was wonderful. She was like my sister. Um, I could go to her for advice
and I'm getting emotional, but yeah, I could go to her for advice. She had this powerful presence. I don't know what it
was about her, maybe her smile or something, but whenever we would walk into a room, like all eyes would be on
Sherekica. She was a beautiful girl. You know, I always saw the men talking to her or she talking to them. Despite all
that attention, Sherekica seemed to have a special interest in Kuth. You know, from a woman towoman, she liked Ry. with
her being pregnant and of course at the time we assumed Ray Kuth I knew that she
really had to care a lot about him to get herself into that situation. Kuth's defenders are quick to point out
that Shereekica was not the typical girl next door. They point to a part-time job
she had in a topless club. There were definitely complications in this case because of it involving a
professional athlete and a woman who had it was later revealed had worked part-time as a topless dancer. And now
sources close to the case say one of the three men charged along with Kuth in her
murder, William Watkins, was actually a bouncer at another topless bar called the Men's Club where Sherekica once
operated the gift shop. And it's also been learned that Ray Kut wasn't the only famous sports star Sherekica knew.
in Charlotte right now because we have the NFL and the NBA, there are a lot of athletes that are here. So, it was
pretty easy for her to run into them. Among those she was said to know were basketball stars Larry Johnson and
Shaquille O'Neal along with rapper Master P. Some friends that uh my colleagues have talked to during that
time period in her life say she started uh becoming interested in the world of professional athletes and in meeting
athletes. After a sensational rookie year, Kuth had fallen victim to the so-called
sophomore jinx. He broke his foot the second year and sat out a lot of the season. And he has high hopes for his
third season. and he's in the third year of his four-year contract and he really
wants to um as far as we know from his friends, he wanted to make up for the lost time the previous season. But
before the 99 season even started, Kuth's personal life had taken a turn for the worse, starting with some bad
investments. I believe the court records say he had lost $31,000 in that pyramid
scheme. And then there was a lawsuit involving a a house purchase. the the people who were selling the home sued
him, saying that he had backed out of the home purchase and they were seeking the the lost value in their home from
him. Along with those financial problems, word leaked out that Sherekica Adams was pregnant and that Rey was the
father. I remember asking Ry about it. You know, I heard a little something something, you know, and he said, "Go,
what'd you hear?" Um, I said, "We might be a daddy again." and he said, "Oh, somebody's been telling secrets."
Sharica was godmother to my daughter and she came to the hospital and she literally like would not give me my
baby. She fell asleep with her in her arms and she just held her and caressed her so passionately and when she found
out that she was pregnant and she was very excited about that. And I know a lot of things changed for her once she
found out she was pregnant. For a start, she's believed to have immediately quit
her second job as a stripper at the Diamond Club. And it seemed to those around him that Ray Kuth was looking
forward to being a dad again, too. He seemed very excited about the baby. And I know that he was making preparations
as far as his home and changing things around. He was going to take responsibility for this child, which a
lot of people don't know. He went to the doctor with Sherekica. He didn't duck his responsibilities as they always say
black men do. Um, Rey was the epitome of what I feel represented what a black man
should do as far as having children out of wedlock. The day after the shooting, Sherekica's grandmother even told a
local reporter that Ry was supportive of the pregnancy. He have been so concerned about
her doctor appointments and all of this and that. He's been a nice nice gentleman in this pregnancy. But then
more problems arose for Kuth on the football field. That good 99 season he was anticipating got off on the wrong
foot when he injured an ankle. He sustained another injury, his third season and had to start sitting out some
games. So um that that again was hard for him to take according to his friends. Some days he came in and he was just
sort of into himself. You could tell he had, you know, things on his mind. During that time period, a lot of his
friends that we interviewed here in Charlotte said they did seem to notice a change in him, that it um he was down
about not being able to play, that he felt perhaps the coach was treating him a little differently and um he wasn't
meeting his dreams that year. Police theorized that his financial wos combined with worries about his future
in the NFL and the prospect of a second child support payment drove Kuth to deadly desperation.
They said he hatched a plot to kill Sherekica and the baby. And Kuth allegedly put it into action on the
night of November 15th when he and Sherekica went to a local cinema to see a 9:45 p.m. showing of the bone
collector. After the movie, they went back to his house where, according to police, Karut made a phone call. The
couple then left the house a little before midnight. Sherekica followed Kuth's white Ford expedition, but she
too was being followed by three men in a third car. Then around 12:30 a.m. after
driving just a few miles, that third car pulled alongside Sherekica and a gunman
fired five bullets through the driver's side window. What's wrong? Do you have an accident?
No, she's been shot, medic. Okay. I regret having to uh tell you this afternoon that Sherekica Adams, 24, died
at 12:43. [Music] She was just a a great person. I I miss her so much. [Music] On December the 14th, 1999, warrants
were obtained for the arrest of Ray Ku for the murder of Sherekica Adams. Efforts to locate and arrest Mr. Kut
were unsuccessful. [Music] We later found out that he had checked into a Best Western Hotel in Tennessee.
The information was relayed to FBI agents who in turn obtained an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution warrant.
Agents responded to the Best Western Motel in Wildersville, Tennessee. Uh they set up a surveillance there. The
six FBI agents located Wendy Cole in her hotel room and after guaranteeing that they would not harm Kuth, she agreed to
cooperate. The surveillance subsequently led to the location of Mr. Kut in a trunk of a vehicle.
Kuth was curled up in the fetal position with a handful of candy bar wrappers and
$3,900 in cash. He'd been in Cole's truck for 24 hours. At 5:45 p.m. Central time, Ray Kut was arrested by FBI agents
at this Best Western Motel. Where did you first get your information from that he was at this hotel in uh in Tennessee?
We would not divulge the source of the information that the homicide investigators receive. In fact, that
information came from the most unlikely source, Kuth's mother. She said she was trying to save her
son's life, that she believes he would have been killed if she hadn't done that, that the police might have killed
him. Wendy Cole was later charged with aiding a fugitive and Kuth was taken back to
Charlotte and booked by Charlotte Meckllinburgg police who alleged the hit on Sherekica Adams was carried out on
the orders of Kuth himself. They claim the evidence is overwhelming, including Sherekica's own words from the 911 call
and handwritten note she'd scribbled from her hospital bed before she died. Coming up, Ray Kur goes on trial for the
murder of Shereekica Adams. [Music] November 20th, 2000, North Carolina's case against Ray Kut began in
Meckllinburgg County Superior Court. It wasn't the trial of the century, but for Carolina and the world of
professional football, it was the biggest event of the day. Certainly, there was a lot of anger about the
nature of the crime and about the um the blot on Charlotte to have something like
this happen here. It's something that happened around in the in this community. It really kind of maybe
turned some of the fans away. Everybody I've talked to, you know, really thinks he did it. So, it looks bad. Lead
prosecutor Gentry Kadil laid out the case against Kut in compelling whispers. The most dramatic witness he promised
would be the victim herself. The evidence will prove that Ray Karu planned murder Sherekica. Shereek Adams
was not supposed to live past 12:30. Not supposed to be an eyewitness. Ray Kuth sat unmoved as the prosecutor
revealed the state's evidence. As Sherekica's voice echoed from the 911 tape, the courtroom listened as she
fingered Kuth as her assassin. Where'd he go? The car in front of me and he slowed down and put my son in. And then
where did he go? All right. What's his name? Ray. Okay. What's his name? Sherekica continued to implicate Kuth
that night. Nicole Michaels was the paramedic on the scene. Do you recall the police officer asking Sherekica a
question? Yes. Yes. Ma'am, do you know who shot you? Did Sherekica respond to the police officer's question, "Ma'am,
do you know who shot you?" Yes, she did. What did she say? She said, "Ray." And she said, "My baby's daddy."
Prosecutors remained focused on following Sherekica's trail of clues to the hospital.
After surgery, Sherekica, unable to speak due to a breathing tube in her throat, reached for nurse Tracy
Willard's clipboard and indicated she had something to communicate. In one of those notes, Sherekica refers
to a suspicious phone call that Kuth made while they were at his house after the movie. In court, nurse Willard read
from Sherekica's hospital notes. Before we left his house, he called someone and said, "We were leaving."
Now, Sherekica had no idea at the time who Rey was talking to, but police would identify that person, and one year later
at the trial, he would take the witness stand and present some of the most damaging evidence against Kuth. He was
going to take her to the movies and for me to stay in that area and he was going
to call me after the movie was over to be close by so I can see them and when I follow him that his friend was going to
do the rest. Michael Kennedy, the driver, also charged with first-degree murder and
facing the death penalty, swore under oath that he did not make a deal with the prosecutors, but rather was
testifying to clear his conscience. He confessed to purchasing the murder weapon that night with Watkins, the
trigger man, and identified Kuth as being directly involved. And he asked me um if I knew where he
could get a gun at. And at the time, my friend was selling a gun, but he gave me
a $100 and told me to take Watkins to get the gun. Kennedy asked Kuth why he needed a gun. His response, prosecutors
say, provide the motive. He was telling me about um this girl that he had got pregnant,
which I found out later was Sherekica. and he was saying that um she was trying to juice him for money and he was
already paying like almost $5,000 in child support and he didn't want to pay another $5,000 in child support and um
he said the guy which I found out later was Watkins. He had paid him to beat up Sherekica so that she would lose the
baby. and uh he was saying that he hadn't done it yet and he had already paid him and um he said that he needed a
gun because he wanted to do it that night. The evidence against Kuth, according to
prosecutors, was damning. The dying words of a young mother to be, the testimony of a killer, all seemed
insurmountable. It was now time for Kuth to tell his story. Coming up, Ray's biggest play,
the fight for his life. [Music] My mind cannot see Ray Kuth masterminding any anything of that
serious of a nature. I I can't see those words coming out of his mouth. [Music] For Ray Kuth, who had remained silent
since the death of his girlfriend, this was the time for him to make his voice heard. He could count on a strong
defense team and loyal friends. For the people that didn't know him, they could easily believe what they've heard.
People that know him say, "No way. Couldn't happen. This couldn't be him. He could not have done this heinous this
cruel crime. He couldn't have couldn't even been a part of it. I know Ry and what kind of person he is. I know
about his history with children and how he's willing to help somebody else. And I don't think that he had anything to do
with killing Sherekica. Defense attorney David Rudolph attacked the 911 evidence. He suggested that
Sherekica was deliberately led into implicating Kut. During the 911 call, it is not Sherekica Adams who first
suggests that Ray Kuth was somehow involved in this because he was in front of her on Ray Road.
No, it's the 911 dispatcher who makes the first suggestion about that. Medic. Okay. How did this happen? Call
her. I was following my baby's daddy, Ray Kut, the football player. Medic. So, you think he did it?
First words out of his mouth. He also suggested Sherekica Adams was not the most reliable witness to the details of
the crime. You'll hear things like, "Medic, did you see the person that shot you? Call her. I'm 8 months pregnant.
She's worried about her baby. She's not worried about the person who shot her. She's trying to survive."
Kut's defense largely depends on his lawyer's efforts to shake the credibility of the men in the car from
which the shooting occurred. They began with Michael Kennedy, an admitted drug dealer, and suggested to the jury that
even though Kennedy testified without immunity, his motivation for pointing the finger at Kut was designed to reduce
his own culpability. And you knew, sir, that you needed to come up with some story that gave you an
excuse for having driven the car and bought the gun. Didn't you? No, sir. I told them the truth. What they told you
was, "Well, the DA is not going to come down, but if you give us a statement, we'll put in a good word for you." Isn't
that about what they told you? I don't know about the good word part, but you don't? No, sir. Well, you've
been involved with the system a number of times before, haven't you? Yes, sir. You've had serious charges dismissed
before, haven't you? Yes, sir. So, you knew how the system worked, didn't you? Then, attorney David Rudolph turned his
attention to Watkins, the trigger man. They presented the jury with Watkins jailhouse confession to a sheriff's
deputy that he shot out of anger over a botched drug deal and not as a result of
a contract hit. Is it true, sir, that on one occasion when Sergeant Riddle came to your cell? Didn't you say to her,
"Sergeant Riddle, I shot that girl, but it was Ray's fault." Did you say that? I
don't remember. You say if he had just given us the money, none of this would have happened. No, sir. People of the
jury, if Sergeant Riddle come in here and tell you that lie, don't pay no attention to it. At the time, Sherekica
Adams was fighting for her life. Did you say, "I hope the [ __ ] dies." Did you say that? That's the [ __ ] I was talking
about. Oh, I see. Ray Karoo. Oh, that's the [ __ ] I was referring to who got me into
this when he says, "I hope the [ __ ] dies." Uh, and Sherekica Adams is there in the hospital. Uh, I think it's pretty
clear who's he who he's referring to. Glenn, uh, you know, if you if you like to bet your house mortgage on, uh, the
credibility of, uh, Mr. Watkins, uh, good luck to you. In a further attempt to discredit the
state's evidence, the defense point to questionable police tactics. Mr. Kuth's defense has challenged the use of
statements by the codefendants because of the circumstances under which they were taken and they are questioning the
reliability and truthfulness of what the what is in those statements from especially Mr. Watkins and Mr. Kennedy.
[Music] The burden of proof in this case remains right here. It's not just getting over the 50 or
even getting down into the goal line. You got to score a touchdown. You got to eliminate all reasonable doubts. Former
Panther Ray Kut's fate was now in the hands of a North Carolina jury. [Applause]
Ray Ku has spent most of his life performing in front of large crowds of cheering fans.
He has spent this year isolated in a jail cell with his future resting in the hands of the five women and seven men
who fill these chairs. They will decide if he lives or dies. the truth always comes out because you have 12 people,
normal people, common sense, can look at the evidence and make the right decision. I think at this point
it's a big question mark to me exactly what will happen. It can go either way. After a trial filled with intrigue and
emotion, friends and family of both sides await the jury's verdict. To me, it would it's like you're it was my own
son and and you you you don't want to believe what you've heard. You're hoping that there's a serious mistake made that
I I visualize him in my mind every day in that cell just sitting there going to waste. And I I know he's got to be going
crazy. Along with Sherekica dying, I think people need to remember also that he had
a child by her and he has some feelings for her. And so as far as thinking that he's this
cruel animal the way the public is making it seem or the media is making it seem, he has feelings and that he's
grieving about the situation. Also, we miss my daughter very much. Uh we do know that she's in heaven. The trial has
been hard, long process, the hardest thing that I've ever had to go through. I would like to send peace and blessings
to the Adams family. I think they have um portrayed such strength and dignity throughout all of this and I really
respect them and honor them for that. I pray that, you know, the best comes out of this trial, especially for
Chancellor. The baby was put into the custody of Sherekica's mother, Sandre Adams, and eventually after several
months of hearings, they reached a child support settlement with Ray Karuth. He he was seeking visitation with the
child, which he has had in the jail. He's been able to see the child and um he has set uh agreed to a settlement
where the sale of proceeds from his house will be divided between um Chancellor Adams and the child he has in
California. Ray Kuru fought hard to become a star athlete and perform on a national stage. But curiously, in the
biggest, most important moment of his life, he remains silent. For the 12 people who will decide his fate, his
decision not to testify, while perfectly proper under the law, is seen by some courtroom observers as a mistake.
[Music] [Music] The jury's verdict will determine whether Ray Ku is wrongly accused,
freeing him to continue the life he's worked so hard to achieve or guilty of masterminding the murder of Shereek
Adams, making him the first active NFL player in history to face execution. [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music] I don't know.

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Brief Summary

Ray Kuth faces trial for allegedly murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Shereekica Adams, amid shocking evidence and community outrage.

Key points

The Shocking Murder Case. For the second time in a decade, a pro football star faces trial for murder.
Kuth's Arrest. Ray Kuth was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder after a shocking crime.
The Tragic Death. Sherekica Adams died after being shot, leading to new charges against Kuth.
Kuth on the Run. Ray Kuth vanished after new murder charges were issued against him.
The Rise of Ray Kuth. From childhood dreams to NFL stardom, Kuth's journey was remarkable.
The Tragic Night. Sherekica Adams was shot after a movie date, leading to a tragic turn of events.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He couldn't have done this heinous crime.

A defense of Ray Kuth's character.

0:27WatchJul 28, 2014

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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