Rae Carruth Rae Lamar Wiggins ( born January 20 , 1974 ) , known as Rae Carruth , is a former American football wide receiver in the NFL for the Carolina Panthers . In 2001 , he was found guilty of conspiring to murder the woman who at the time was carrying his child and is serving a prison sentence with an expected release date of 2018 . Biography . Carruth attended Valley High School in Sacramento , California , and played four seasons at the University of Colorado . He was named a first - team All - America in 1996 . His college quarterback s were future NFL quarterbacks Koy Detmer and Kordell Stewart . He was a first - round draft pick , selected with the 27th pick in the 1997 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers . He signed a four year , $ 3 . 7 million deal . His sophomore year at CU his Sacramento girlfriend , Michelle Wright , gave birth to their son Raelondo . He had a respectable rookie season , starting 14 games . Wearing uniform number 89 , he caught 44 passes for 545 yards and four touchdown passes , tied for first among rookie receivers . He was named to the all - rookie team at wide receiver . He broke his right foot in the opening game of 1998 , and did not catch another pass that season due to the injury . He ended the year with four catches for 59 yards ( all on opening day ) . He played in the first six games of the 1999 season , making 14 catches for 200 yards . Criminal history . On Nov . 16 , 1999 , near his home in Charlotte , North Carolina , Cherica Adams , a real estate agent he had been casually dating , was shot four times by Van Brett Watkins , a night club manager and friend of Carruth . Surviving the shooting for a while , Adams called 911 and described how Rae Carruth behaved : he had stopped his vehicle in front of hers as another vehicle drove alongside Adams and its passenger shot her , and Carruth then drove from the scene . Adams was eight months pregnant with Carruth ' s child at the time . Soon after her admission to the hospital , she fell into a coma . Doctors saved the child , Chancellor Lee Adams , via an emergency Caesarean section , but the mother died a month later ( on Dec . 14 ) . Chancellor suffers from cerebral palsy , but otherwise very healthy . Like his father , he ' s very athletic and even plays football in his motorized wheelchair . He won a gold medal in a 30 meter dash with his wheelchair in the Special Olympics . He ' s being raised by his maternal grandmother , Saundra Adams , in Charlotte . Carruth went to the police and posted a $ 3 million bail , on condition that if either Cherica or Chancellor died , he would turn himself in . After Cherica died , he fled and became a fugitive . The Panthers released him a few days later , citing a morals clause in his contract . He was captured after being found hiding in the trunk of a car outside a motel in Parkers Crossroads , Tennessee . Also in the trunk was $ 3 , 900 cash , bottles of his urine , extra clothes , candy bars and a cell phone . Prosecutors in the case believed Carruth hired Watkins and others to murder Adams because of her adamant refusal to abort their unborn child . In the defense theory , Rae Carruth had been caught up in a drug deal gone bad . Although , he hadn ' t done any drugs nor did he drink , he was swept into the drug deal . He later refused to fund the deal . According to his defense , on the night of the shooting , after refusing to fund the drug deal , Watkins ( the confessed shooter ) shot Cherica Adams after an attempt to ask her about Carruth ' s whereabouts once he had driven off . She reportedly flipped Watkins the bird and that ' s when he opened fire into her black BMW . He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder , shooting into an occupied vehicle , and using an instrument to destroy an unborn child . He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison . He was found not guilty of first - degree murder , and so was spared the death penalty . He is serving a sentence of at least 18 years and 11 months at Nash Correctional Institution near Rocky Mount , North Carolina , with a projected release date of Oct . 22 , 2018 . The driver in the murder , Michael Kennedy , pleaded guilty to second degree murder and was sentenced to 11 years and eight months . Van Brett Watkins pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the shooting , and was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years and three months .