Billy Adams testifying at his double murder trial. Jurors acquitted him for killing Trevon Albury and Daniel Thompson. Mere days later, he allegedly shot and killed his pregnant girlfriend Alana Sims. (Screenshot: WTVT)
Grand jurors indicted a man for allegedly shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend who planned on celebrating his acquittal in the unrelated shooting deaths of two men. Billy Bennett Adams III, 25, is charged with murder in the first degree and killing of unborn child by injury to mother.
As previously reported, police in Tampa, Florida, claim the defendant shot and killed Alana Sims, 22, because he apparently did not want to be in her life and he was not ready to have a child.
Cops were called on Jan. 30 at approximately 10:16 p.m. regarding a woman found unresponsive at the Easton Park subdivision, according to court documents. A driver had passed by Sims as she lay on the ground five feet from a Ford Ecosport. She had been shot in the head. Her 2-year-old son was physically unharmed and in the vehicle.
“As witness 1 approached the victim, the witness determined that the victim was not responding and saw a pool of blood next to the body,” officers said.
Officers determined that Sims had been driving the Ecosport, which she borrowed from a person identified as Witness 2. Sims had planned on attending a party for her boyfriend on the evening of the murder, Witness 2 said in documents.
The planned celebration was for Adams’ Jan. 27 murder acquittal in the deaths of Trevon Albury and Daniel Thompson, police said in a press conference.
REST IN PEACE: We’re learning more about Alana Sims, the young mother who was found lying dead in a residential street in Tampa Monday night. https://t.co/SgmwbuLGl9 pic.twitter.com/XAPEUF8ktT
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) February 1, 2023
Cops spoke with Adams at his home, according to documents. He allegedly confirmed knowing Sims but denied knowing she was dead.
“Further Adams stated he did not believe he was the father of the victim’s unborn child and stated he had not seen, spoken with, or texted the victim in several months,” authorities said. “Lastly, Adams told detectives that he was at home the entire evening of 1/30/2023 and that he did not leave the house until the next day.”
But police claimed to find certain surveillance video depicting a Chevy Malibu, which belonged to Adams’ father, driving through the “entrance/exit points” of Easton Park subdivision, where Sims died. The Live Oak Preserve subdivision, where defendant Adams lived, had surveillance footage of the Chevy Malibu leaving Live Oak at 7:10 p.m. on Jan. 30.
“Security for Live Oak Preserve indicated that vehicles registered to residents were equipped with an RFID tag to facilitate entrance of the vehicle into the community,” police said. “Security provided information that an RFID associated with the residence of Adams, III entered the Life Oak Preserve subdivision on January 30, 2023 at 8:32 p.m. This was also confirmed by surveillance video located at the entrance gate.”
Police said they confronted Adams with that evidence. He allegedly changed his story about being home all evening.
“During this second statement, Adams, III stated he was with friends earlier in the evening on 1/30/2023 and that the three had went to the Villas in Tampa,” officers said. “Adams, III stated he had left his residence around 6:50 p.m. and returned home around 8:30 p.m. on January 30, 2023. Adams III denied going to the Easton Park subdivision on January 30, 2023.”
According to cops, the suspect gave them video supposedly taken on Jan. 30 showing him out with his friends. But officers determined the video was actually taken on Feb. 1 but altered to show the date of Jan. 30.
Police said they seized the Adams’ phone, obtained a search warrant, and discovered he was communicating with a woman named Lakenya Brantley. From this, officers determined the alleged motive behind Sims’ murder:
During these IMessage’s a potential motive was developed. During the messages that occurred on January 29, 2023, Adams III communicates that “tomorrow this shit done.” Other messages indicate that Brantley was upset concerning the victim’s pregnancy and that Adams, III wanted to have his life and that “she” wouldn’t be included. Brantley messages Adams, II back indicating “this ain’t the way baby”. As mentioned these IMessages occurred on January 29, 2023 and the murder of the victim occurred the next day on January 30, 2023. Lastly, the cell phone extraction of the phone belonging to Adams, III had a search of maps on 1/30/2023 for the Easton Park subdivision (search occurred at 6:43 p.m.)
After his arrest, Adams at first denied having contact with Sims on Jan. 30. Police said they confronted him with the inconsistencies in his story, and he finally admitted he did meet with her. He allegedly claimed, however, he killed Sims in self-defense. Officers said he also ended up revising that story:
Initially the defendant stated that the victim pulled a gun on him and while the defendant wrestled with the victim he shot her. When the defendant could not demonstrate the events the defendant changed his statement to the fact that the victim pulled a gun on him and he was able to get the gun away from the victim and then shot her in the head as self-defense. When asked about the location of the gun, the defendant stated he threw it away on his way home after the shooting. Adams, III further confirmed that he knew the victim was pregnant and that he could possibly be the father.
Adams remains held without bond at the Falkenburg Road Jail in Hillsborough County, Florida, records show.
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