The triggerman who killed ex-NFL wide receiver Rae Carruth’s pregnant girlfriend at Carruth’s behest more than 20 years ago has died in prison, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
Van Brett Watkins, 63, died Dec. 3, its website says. Local ABC affiliate WSOC reported Watkins died of natural causes.
In a notorious case, Carruth, then with the Carolina Panthers, arranged to have his girlfriend Cherica Adams killed by hiring Watkins. On Nov. 16, 1999, Carruth and Adams, 24, had just left a movie traveling in separate cars. A third car driven by one of Carruth’s friends drove up next to Adams’ car and shot at her, hitting her four times, the Charlotte Observer reported. The driver, Michael Kennedy, spent 10 years and nine months in prison and was released in 2018.
Van Watkins who shot and killed the girlfriend of Rae Carruth at Carruth’s behest has died in prison at 63 years old. He had been serving a 50-year sentence. (YouTube screenshot from A&E’s “The Killer Speaks” in 2014)
Adams, who was eight months pregnant, died four weeks later but doctors were able to save her son Chancellor Lee via an emergency C-section about 90 minutes after the shooting. Lee, now 24, has cerebral palsy and brain damage as a result of the oxygen depravation following the shooting.
Watkins confessed to the killing. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and a judge sentenced him to 50 years in prison. Watkins testified against Carruth at his trial, saying it was Carruth who told him to carry out the hit.
Adams’ mother Saundra Adams told WSOC she was surprised of his passing.
“It’s no coincidence that to me he passed away 24 years ago in December after he took my daughter’s life, and that Chancellor is now 24 years old,” she said.
Carruth, a 1997 first round pick out of the University of Colorado, was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison. He was released in 2018.
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