Murder trial of man accused of stabbing, burning victim begins Tuesday
TAMPA, Fla. - A man facing murder charges for allegedly stabbing another man and lighting him on fire before trying to take his own life is standing trial in a Tampa courtroom.
Case against Donnie Adams
The backstory:
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies went to the 10000 block of Banfield Dr. in Riverview to check out a report of a fire on July 19, 2023.
First responders found Rogelio Betancourt with upper body trauma and severe burns. He was rushed to the hospital and later died.
Investigators identified the suspect as Donnie Adams, who was 53 at the time. HCSO said Adams left the scene and said he would kill himself.
About 30 minutes later, according to deputies, Adams was spotted in Manatee County, where he went into the water.
First responders got Adams out of the water. He then went to the hospital with severe burns that investigators said were self-inflicted.
Adams has remained in custody the past two years while awaiting trial for first-degree murder and arson.
Pictured: Donnie Adams in court.
Donnie Adams murder trial
What they're saying:
Adams entered the court in a wheelchair on Tuesday. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputies assisted him in getting into position at the defense table. Adams still suffers from visible injuries from the fire he is charged with setting inside his home in Brandon.
The prosecutor, Jessica O'Connor, addressed the court and the jury in her opening statements.
Jessica O'Connor, State Attorney's Office
"'I killed my brother. I want to talk to the negotiator, tell my mother I love her, my kids, boy kept pushing my buttons...."' those are the statements made by the Donnie Adams after fleeing the scene on July 19, 2023," O'Connor said.
O'Connor put up the image of Adams as he was being negotiated off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge where Manatee and Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputies tried to talk him out of killing himself in the waters off of the bridge access area.
Donnie Adams jumped into the Gulf to avoid arrest in 2023. Image is courtesy of HCSO.
O'Connor told the jury that Adams admitted to killing his friend and roommate, Rogelio Betancourt, and setting the home on fire with his friend's body still inside.
She outlined the circumstances of the case going back to before the incident began two summers ago.
According to the prosecution, the victim and three friends arrived at the home that Adams owned in order to get his things as he was moving out. Donnie Adams was home at the time when Betancourt went inside.
Soon his friends heard him screaming for help, prosecutors say. They tried to get in the front door, but it was locked. They ran around the back of the house and could see through the back glass door that there was a struggle inside. They called 911.
A neighbor called out "fire," and they could see the smoke coming out of the home. One of the friends kicked in the locked front door where they found Betancourt bloody, on fire and immobile.
They put the fire out on his body, according to the state, and he said "Don stabbed me..."
The friends said they saw Adams set himself on fire in the master bedroom before running through the house and out the front door.
Adams took off from the scene in his vehicle with obvious burns. That's when he drove I-75 southbound and ended up at the Skyway Bridge where he was later found by sheriff's deputies.
The victim, Betancourt, was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries two days later.
A knife was found on the floor of the home with blood evidence on it.
Knife evidence photo
The white-handled knife was tested and determined to be the one used to stab the victim.
The fire investigator found multiple locations where charring was consistent with the use of an accelerant to start a fire. A gas can was also found inside the home.
There is no question that Adams was there, prosecutors say, as he also suffered severe burns from the fire. His injuries are still visible today.
Mugshot of Donnie Adams. Courtesy: Hillsborough County Jail.
The other side:
The defense attorney for Donnie Adams, Carolyn Schlemmer, agreed that much of the evidence would show that the prosecution was correct. There was a fire. The victim was stabbed. Her client was burned in that same fire.
She reminded the jury that the burden of proof is on the prosecution.
She told jurors that they will see the body camera video of the deputy at the Skyway bridge. In that video, Mr. Adams is severely injured and in a state of shock.
Witnesses at the home will share how they saw Mr. Adams running from the home on fire. What is in dispute is who started these fires and how Betancourt came to be stabbed at the time of the fires starting.
No one witnessed Donnie Adams stabbing anyone. No one witnessed Donnie Adams setting a fire.
The friends entered the home after hearing someone yelling fire."
Schlemmer laid out her theory to the jury, saying that the victim, Betancourt, was upset about having to move that day. She said that Adams was in the process of selling the home to move to Texas.
While the victim died from fire injuries, Adams was taken to Blake Hospital in Manatee County with burn injuries that almost killed him as well.
Several of the deputies that responded to the Skyway will speak about Mr. Adams and his injuries.
Of the statement the prosecution made, "I killed my brother…" that was on the body camera of the deputies, Schlemmer replied that he also said, "I didn't want him (Betancourt) to get in trouble for what he did."
She maintained to the jury that they will find no evidence of premeditated murder and that Mr. Adams did not set any of the fires inside that home.
What's next:
Adams, who is now 55, faces life in prison if convicted of murder.
The Source: This story was written with information from Hillsborough County Court records and previous FOX 13 News reports.