Star exclusive: Cherica Adams' family talks: Grandmother said family keeping vigil for shooting victim and her infant son Date: 11/29/99 Comments Andrew Dys Star Staff Writer KINGS MOUNTAIN - A faceless man behind a facemask. All Cherica Adams' grandmother knew to look for on television was Number 89 in silver, black and blue, her granddaughter's boyfriend, and the father of her great-grandchild. Virginia Adams said her granddaughter and Carruth hadn't been dating long. Ms. Adams said she had never met Carruth. "She told me which number to look for on the television, but he's not been to my home," Mrs. Adams said. "I haven't seen him in person. He was just somebody who wore a helmet on television." Even after Charlotte police arrested Carolina Panthers football player Rae Carruth and two other men Thursday on charges that they tried to kill her pregnant granddaughter, Cherica, Virginia Adams said her family's concern has been on the fight in intensive care that Cherica and her prematurely born son have waged to stay alive. It's not about who did it, Grandma says. It's about family, a mother and her son fighting for life, and God's grace. "We've been there at the hospital every day," said Mrs. Adams, "and I've never worried about the other things. Both my granddaughter and her son are doing better, doing nicely, but they are not out of the woods yet. I believe with all my heart that God's glory got both of them this far, and will continue to take care of them. We as a family are glad the police have made the arrests, but our energy and prayers have been with my granddaughter and her son." On Nov. 16, pregnant Cherica Adams, 24, a Kings Mountain native raised by her grandmother, was shot while in her car in south Charlotte. The baby was delivered at Carolinas Medical Center, and both she and the boy have been in intensive care ever since. Virginia Adams said Cherica went to Grover Elementary School before moving to Charlotte as a small child. Thursday, police charged Rae Carruth, Cherokee's boyfriend and the suspected father of the child, with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. Two other men, William E. Watkins and Michael Kennedy, both of Charlotte, face the same charges. The three men's roles in the alleged plot to kill Ms. Adams has not been released by Charlotte Police, but Watkins has been arrested before in Cleveland County. Shelby Police officer W.L. Roberson Jr. said Watkins, 44, was arrested in Shelby on Sept. 18 after complaints by residents in the Washington Heights neighborhood off Eaves Road. Roberson said that citizens were complaining that a U-Haul truck with Maryland license plates had been in the area for several days, and would appear at odd times during the day and night. Roberson said he spotted the U-Haul and pulled it over, then found out the truck was reported stolen in Georgia 10 days before. He said the truck's cargo area was empty. "I called the U-Haul company and the suspect apparently rented the truck and never took it back," Roberson said. "He told me that his job was setting up stereo equipment and that he brought some equipment up here from Georgia, and that checked out. But he had two different sets of identification one from North Carolina and one from Georgia, and neither was a driver's license." The police report from the arrest shows that Watkins gave police his home address as 3012 Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte, and gave his employer as Jazzy T's nightclub in Decatur, Georgia. Roberson charged Watkins with felony possession of a stolen vehicle, driving without a license and obstruct and delay. Records with the Cleveland County jail show that the charges were dismissed on Sept. 28. Jeff Wright, the manager at Jazzy T's club, said Watkins, whose nickname is "New York," was a subcontractor who hung sheetrock and put down carpet at the club. "I remember him saying that he was building a fence or something for Rae," Wright said. "He worked here some when he was in town, and he would come in the club when he was in town. But I have no idea why he was in your town back in September, and I'm shocked by his arrest now." But Virginia Adams said that the identity of Watkins, or Kennedy, or even Rae Carruth, is not on the mind of the Adams' family. Their focus is on Cherica and the 12-day-old boy's recovery. "The support of people in this community and from as far away as Charlotte has been beautiful, and it shows that there is love in the world," Mrs. Adams said. "The Lord has guided us this far, and the future is in his hands now. The power of prayer has really been shown." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------