Tampa rapper Billy Adams found guilty in murder of pregnant girlfriend
Rapper found guilty of killing pregnant girlfriend
A Tampa rapper has been convicted of murdering his girlfriend and her unborn child. After about five hours of jury deliberation Tuesday, Billy Adams was found guilty. Now, he could face the death penalty. FOX 13's Kylie Jones reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa rapper Billy Adams was found guilty Tuesday in the 2023 murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
The jury deliberated for nearly six hours before returning a guilty verdict on the two charges of first-degree murder and the killing of an unborn child.
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Rapper's pregnant girlfriend murdered
The backstory:
Adams, who was 25 years old at the time of the incident, allegedly shot his pregnant girlfriend, Alana Sims, 22, in January 2023. The state says that at the time of the murders, Adams believed he was the father of Sims' unborn child.
Pictured: Alana Sims.
Prosecutors told jurors on Wednesday that Adams lured Sims, who was five months pregnant at the time, to a secluded, unfinished area in the Easton Park neighborhood of New Tampa. They say Adams gave her vague directions that didn't lead to a specific home or address.
The shooting happened three days after Adams was acquitted in an unrelated double-murder trial.
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Tampa murder trial
What they're saying:
The state and defense made their closing statements Tuesday morning, before handing the case off to the jury. The state prosecutor said Adams wanted to get rid of Sims and her unborn child.
"She trusted him," Lindsey Hodges, a prosecutor with the 13th Judicial Circuit, said. "She hoped that his words of love and a future together actually meant something. She had no idea. The defendant manipulated and lied to her for his benefit, his fain and for one purpose, and that one purpose was to kill both of them."
Throughout the trial, the jury heard from witnesses, including Adams' "main girlfriend" and an inmate who was in jail when the defendant was arrested.
Pictured: Billy Adams.
Lakenya Brantley, identified as Adams' alleged "main" girlfriend, detailed their relationship during the trial, even reading text messages that she sent to Adams the day before the shooting.
"Alana being pregnant, although you were upset in those text messages, was not something that would've destroyed your relationship?" The defense asked Brantley. "'No.'"
The inmate Bryan Boggs, a convicted felon in the Hillsborough County Jail when Adams was arrested, said he and the defendant discussed possible defense arguments in his case.
READ: Billy Adams trial: Tampa rapper accused of killing pregnant girlfriend stands trial
Boggs testified that Adams wrote letters from jail to three women instructing them what to tell investigators, to craft an alibi. Boggs copied Adams' letters in his own handwriting in order to cover their tracks.
The other side:
During the defense's closing statement, Adams' attorney went after the credibility of Boggs. The defense also argued that everyone believed Adams was the father of Sims' unborn child.
"Ms. Sims' entire family believed that he was the father of the child, when that wasn't true," Adams' attorney said. "You know that Mr. Adams was told that he was the father of the child, and that wasn't true. She knew that they were not exclusive."
Billy Adams sentencing phase
What's next:
Now that Adams has been found guilty, the penalty phase is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. The same jury will return for the penalty phase, which is when jurors will likely hear more testimony.
The jury will have to determine whether to recommend that Adams be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered during the murder trial against Billy Adams.