Motion Is Filed on Behalf of Carruth

Attorneys for former Carolina receiver Rae Carruth claim his pregnant girlfriend was fatally shot by a friend of his who was angry because the athlete refused to finance a drug deal.

A 16-page motion filed Wednesday, five days before jury selection is to begin in Carruth’s murder trial, claims confessed triggerman Van Brett Watkins fatally shot Cherica Adams when she made an obscene gesture at him, not because Carruth paid to have her killed.

“She looked over at the car and seen us, she flipped me off. . . . I lost it. I just started shooting,” Watkins is quoted as saying in handwritten notes from a Mecklenburg County sheriff’s deputy.

The deputy said Watkins voluntarily offered details about his role in the shooting while he was being held in jail. The motion claims the Nov. 16 shooting occurred hours after Carruth refused to finance a drug deal involving Watkins and another man charged in Adams’ murder.

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