Left: Alana Sims (Aikens Funeral Home). Right: Billy Adams III (Tampa State Attorney's Office).
A 28-year-old Florida man received the ultimate punishment for the death of his pregnant girlfriend's unborn child after he lured the woman to a remote area and executed her.
Billy Adams III was sentenced to death on Wednesday for the killing of Alana Sims' unborn child, who was going to be named Leilani. The jury handed down a life sentence after convicting him of first-degree murder for the shooting death of Sims, who was five months pregnant.
Adams believed he was the father of Sims' baby and feared he would lose his "main" girlfriend as a result. What he didn't know at the time was that he was not the father.
"This is not a decision we celebrate. If it weren't for this defendant's actions, Alana and her baby Leilani would still be here," Tampa State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement. "Nothing can change what was taken from their families. I hope today's decision brings a measure of peace to their loved ones. We thank the jury for taking on the tremendous responsibility of making this recommendation."
In January 2023, Adams was acquitted of murder in a separate case, but was arrested almost immediately.
On Jan. 30, 2023, just three days after his acquittal, Adams had Sims meet him in a subdivision under construction, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit.
They drove to the area in separate cars. When she stepped out of her Ford EcoSport, he shot her in the back of the head. Her toddler son was in the backseat.
Sims' family members said she was supposed to be with Adams at a party that night. Adams at first denied being with Sims on the night of the murder, even supplying detectives a time-altered video that he claimed showed he was with his buddies, giving him an alibi, the Tampa Bay Times reported. But surveillance video and data from his phone proved he was in the area, the affidavit said.
Investigators also uncovered incriminating text messages including "probable cause for arrest in Florida" and "will gloves keep gunpowder off your hands," per the Times. He also texted his other girlfriend "Tomorrow dis s— done."
Confronted with these facts, Adams changed his story. This time he claimed the gun went off during a struggle — the same defense that got him acquitted for the other slaying.
But it didn't work this time.
Adams was unable to come up with a plausible explanation as to how he shot Sims in the back of the head.
"It was a cold, calculated, premeditated murder of her mother, knowing that she was pregnant with baby girl Sims," the state said, according to a courtroom report from local Fox affiliate WTVT. "The killing of a defenseless, vulnerable child, still under the protection of her mother's womb."