Former Panther Rae Carruth accepts responsibility for girlfriend’s murder

He was part of one of Charlotte’s most infamous cases of domestic violence. Now, with just months left on his sentence, former Carolina Panther Rae Carruth is reaching out from behind bars to tell his side of the story.

Carruth has spent the last 17 years in prison for orchestrating the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams. Before Cherica died, she was able to give birth to their son, Chancellor Lee Adams.

Chancellor was born prematurely and with cerebral palsy.

While Carruth has been in prison, Chancellor has been raised by his grandmother, Saundra Adams, who has spent years teaching him about love and forgiveness. The two have been on a mission to spread that message to communities around the world.

Carruth has been mostly silent until this past weekend, when he sent a 15-page letter not to Saundra, but to a Charlotte TV station.

Channel 9 spoke to Saundra after she was able to read the letter.

Carruth starts the letter by calling Saundra a godsend for raising his son Chancellor.

He also apologized saying, “I take full responsibility for everything,” which Saundra said is a first.

“Whether he means it or not, he’s spoken to the universe and said out of this mouth that he was responsible for Cherica’s death and Chancellor’s cerebral palsy, and I have never heard that before,” Saundra said.