Man found guilty in fatal stabbing of 11-year-old Burbank student
A jury convicted a 29-year-old man on Friday of fatally stabbing his girlfriend’s 11-year-old son, who went to school in Burbank, on Memorial Day three years ago.
Rineson Curtis Adams was found guilty of one count of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Jai Lewis, who attended David Starr Jordan Middle School, as well as one count of child abuse against Jai’s younger brother.
On the morning of May 27, 2013, Adams cooked scrambled eggs and bacon for the boys in their Los Angeles apartment before knocking on the door of the bedroom they shared.
“Knock, knock,” Adams said, according to the prosecutor’s recollection of chilling testimony and interviews.
“Who’s there?” one of the boys answered.
“Killer,” Adams said.
Armed with a steak knife, Adams walked into the bedroom and slashed Jai’s hand before stabbing his chest.
Jai’s mother, Gina Evans, rushed into the bedroom and witnessed the last of the three stabs.
Her son died in her arms shortly after.
Evans then called 911, screaming and pleading for help, according to a recording of the phone call played for the jury.
After the incident, Evans also grabbed a knife and stabbed Adams, who was outside of the apartment at that point.
Adams had previously told his girlfriend that he didn’t like the way Jai — who refused to call him “Dad” — looked at him, and that he wanted to “chin-check” the boy, the prosecutor said.
Adams’ attorney said that his client was hallucinating and delusional at the time of the attack.
Authorities found two plates of eggs and bacon on the kitchen table, which Adams had prepared for the boys prior to the stabbing.
According to his attorney, this was evidence that he was not angry and didn’t know what he was doing.
“Clearly, something was going on inside this man’s mind,” said Adams’ attorney, Eric Duvernay, later adding, “The proof was in the eggs.”
During the trial, Adams sat in a tattered wheelchair wearing a neck brace and a blue Los Angeles County jail gown that his attorney said indicated that he was on “suicide watch.”
Sitting next to his attorney, Adams — who has prior convictions for burglary and selling drugs — had multiple outbursts during the trial.
If the jury finds that Adams was sane at the time of the murder, he faces up to life in state prison.
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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com
Twitter: @atchek
