William Jerome Adams (Gwinnett County Jail).
A Georgia man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for murdering his girlfriend and her teenage son — and then leaving her 8-year-old son alone in the home with the bodies.
William Jerome Adams, 29, was found guilty of two counts each of murder and aggravated assault for the March 2021 shooting deaths of Mary Lindsay, 39, and 15-year-old Atif Muhammad, Jr. in Flowery Branch, the Gwinnett County District Attorney”s Office said in a press release Friday.
The investigation began on March 26, 2021, when Lindsay’s oldest daughter was checking on her mother after she hadn’t been heard from in several days. She crawled through a window to find her 8-year-old brother asleep in their mother’s bedroom. She discovered the victims dead in Lindsay’s locked bedroom.
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Further investigation revealed that Adams shot Lindsay and Atif in her bedroom two days prior. The boy had been staying alone in the home for two days, unaware of the murders, prosecutors said.
Cops found three 9 mm shell casings inside the room and were able to match them to ammunition nearby. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Adams and within a day they learned federal authorities in Laredo, Texas, had captured Adams at the border. He had tried to cross into Mexico with a fake name and without a passport, according to prosecutors. Adams also stole $2,000 from his girlfriend’s bank account.
According to prosecutors, Atif’s twin sister testified how she discovered a 9 mm Luger handgun some 10 days before the shooting and snapped a photo of it on her phone. Her mother told her it was Adams’ gun. Jurors also heard testimony about how Adams “had a controlling nature and was abusive toward Lindsay,” prosecutors said. In addition, they saw a photo showing an injury to her arm that the defendant inflicted upon her.
After the verdict a judge sentenced Adams to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The verdict and sentence are fitting for a defendant who violently took the life of a mother and son and stole from them,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “We mourn with the victims’ family and hope that the outcome of the trial gives them some closure and justice.”
