Chancellor Lee Adams will turn 17 in November. That is a feat in itself for the boy who almost did not make it. Adams’ father, former Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth, had his mother Cherica Adams murdered by a hitman when she was 8 months pregnant with him to avoid paying child support. As a result of the shooting, Chancellor was born with cerebral palsy and brain damage.
Chancellor has worked extremely hard to master everyday tasks and has an infectious personality. His father was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit murder but acquitted of first degree murder. Carruth has not seen his son since he was just a year old. That visit was heavily supervised and took place before Carruth was convicted.
Having served 90 percent of his sentence, Carruth is projected to be released October 22, 2018, in almost two years to the day. Chancellor and his grandmother, Saundra Adams plan to be right outside the prison gates on that day. Saundra says that they “have some things to tell him”.
Saundra has long forgiven Carruth for taking the life of her only child and she wants him to have a relationship with his son.
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.
Saundra also states that she hopes to make contact with Carruth within the next year so that he is not taken by surprise at their presence. She doesn’t want him to feel cornered in any way. While she hopes that Carruth will embrace his son, who looks just like him, she is prepared if things take a different turn. She did not disclose her plans to the News & Observer
Chancellor Lee and his grandmother live a modest lifestyle and mainly support themselves with government assistance since Saundra has to care for her grandson around the clock. Although both are big Panthers fans, no one from the organization has ever reached out. In fact, the Panthers have remained as far as possible from the Carruth case as a whole, waiving the receiver when he fled to Tennessee following Cherica’s death.
On not receiving financial assistance from the organization, Saundra had this to say:
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.
Panthers spokesman Steven Drummond states that the organization will not respond to Saundra’s comments nor to questions regarding the team providing financial assistance.
Flip the pages to see the young man Chancellor has grown into.