A Florida jury has recommended the death penalty for Tampa rapper Billy Adams over the killing of his pregnant girlfriend’s unborn child, while calling for life in prison without parole for the woman’s murder.
The 8-4 recommendation was delivered in Hillsborough County on Wednesday, September 2, a day after Adams was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. The final sentence will be decided by the judge.
Death penalty recommendation for unborn child
Prosecutors argued during the penalty phase that the killing involved several aggravating factors, including what they described as a planned and deliberate attack on 22-year-old Alana Sims.
They told jurors that Sims was five months pregnant and that her unborn daughter was particularly vulnerable because she was under 12 years old and still in the womb.
“The killing of a defenseless, vulnerable child, still under the protection of her mother’s womb,” the prosecution said.
Adams was convicted of shooting Sims in the back of the head from close range in an unfinished section of the Easton Park neighbourhood in New Tampa. Prosecutors alleged that he lured her to the isolated location because he wanted to end their relationship and continue seeing another woman.
They said Adams believed he was the father of Sims’s unborn child, although testing later established that he was not.
Sims was found dead beside her vehicle on January 30, 2023. Her 18-month-old son was discovered unharmed inside the vehicle, according to police and court reports.
Adams, who was 25 at the time of the shooting, was arrested by Tampa police on February 8, 2023, and charged with first-degree murder and killing an unborn child by injury to the mother.
Family appeal for life sentence
During Wednesday’s hearing, defence lawyers presented evidence intended to persuade jurors to spare Adams’s life.
His stepmother and two younger brothers described him as a bright student who had graduated from the University of South Florida and was raised in a supportive family.
One of his brothers told the court that Adams had been a major influence on his decision to pursue higher education, saying he “means everything to me”.
Adams became emotional as his stepmother gave evidence. He wiped away tears and made a heart gesture towards her while she spoke about having acted as a maternal figure since his childhood.
The defence also challenged the prosecution’s case during the trial, disputing the credibility of an inmate who testified about alleged jailhouse letters and an attempt to construct an alibi.
The case followed Adams’s acquittal in an unrelated double-murder trial. Tampa police said the arrest in Sims’s killing came just days after that verdict.
A Spencer hearing has been scheduled for December 1, 2026. The defence will have a further opportunity to present evidence before the judge formally sentences Adams and rules on the jury’s recommendations.
