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Months away from his release from prison for conspiring to kill the mother of his child, former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth sent an open letter apologizing for his role in the crime. Carruth told Charlotte television station WBTV in a letter and phone interview he wants to make his apology public after the boy's grandmother Saundra Adams has not returned any messages.
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"I feel like if I did it in the open, it would put an end to the lies," Carruth said. "If I say publicly 'Ms. Adams, I apologize Ms. Adams, I take responsibility for what happened,' then she can no longer get on television and do an interview and say Rae has never apologized to me."
Carruth did not divulge details about his role in the crime but expressed remorse in his first interview since 2001 when he spoke to CNN.
"I'm apologizing for the loss of her daughter," he said. "I'm apologizing for the impairment of my son. I feel responsible for everything that happened and I just want her to know that truly I am sorry for everything.
"If I could change anything, I'd change the whole situation. His mother would still be here, and I wouldn't be where I'm at. So that's what I'd want to change. I want the incident to never have happened at all."
Carruth was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit murder after being charged as the mastermind of a plot to kill Cherica Adams. Adams was shot multiple times and died after giving birth to her son Chancellor, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Carruth hired a hitman, Van Brett Watkins, to kill Adams, who was seven months pregnant. Carruth's motive may have been a desire to avoid paying child support.
He is scheduled to be released from Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, N.C, on Oct. 22. Two accomplices are already out of prison while Watkins is not scheduled to be released until 2046 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
Carruth also said he wants to get custody of his 18-year-old son.
Adams told the Charlotte Observer Carruth would never get custody but said she was satisfied that he admitted responsibility for the murder of her daughter.
"I've forgiven Rae already, but to have any type of relationship with him, there does have to be some repentance," Adams told the newspaper. "And I think this opens the door. But I can say definitively he's not ever going to have custody of Chancellor. Chancellor will be raised either by me or, after I'm gone, by someone else who loves him and who knows him. He will never be raised by a stranger -- someone he doesn't know and who tried to kill him."
