Jury Reads Notes that Put Carruth at Scene
C H A R L O T T E, N.C., Nov. 21 -- As she lay dying in the hospital fromgunshot wounds, the girlfriend of Rae Carruth scribbled notes thatput the former NFL receiver at the scene of the shooting.
Jurors were given the hard-to-read notes today, a day afterCarruth went on trial on murder charges. He is accused ofmasterminding the drive-by shooting death of Cherica Adams inNovember 1999.
Nurse Tracy Willard treated Adams after the shooting. She saidtoday she asked Adams about the shooting after hospital stafferswere told police considered Carruth a suspect.
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Willard, an intensive care nurse, said that as she started hermorning shift she heard about Carruth from another nurse.
Defense attorney David Rudolf asked Willard whether hospitalstaffers are informed of suspects in shootings to protectthemselves in case a gunman walks in “to finish the job.”
“Yes,” Willard said.
Willard testified previously that Adams, unable to talk becauseof the breathing tube in her mouth, motioned for a pen. Willardsaid she gave her one and held out paper, on which Adams wrote.
“He was driving in front of me and stopped in the road and acar pulled up beside me and he blocked the front and never cameback,” Willard read.
Assistant prosecutor David Graham asked Willard is she askedAdams who “he” was.
“Yes,” Willard said. “She wrote ‘Rae.’”
The note was consistent with statements Adams made in a 911 callfrom her cell phone immediately after the shooting.
The final eight minutes of the 12-minute recording were filledwith sounds of Adams moaning in pain, complaining she was cold.Carruth covered his face with his hands several times as therecording played.
The notes received by the jurors seemed to jump from idea toidea, mentioning a kitchen and the names of fellow CarolinaPanthers player Hannibal Navies and his date. The couple ran intoCarruth and Adams at a movie theater on the night of the shooting,prosecutors said.
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