New details emerge in Leah Adams murder, suspect remains in custody

Leah Adams

The accused 17-year-old killer of Leah Adams, 19, remains in custody at the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention facility following a detention hearing Monday afternoon (March 27) in Front Royal.  A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for April 6, at 2:30 p.m., also behind the closed doors of Warren County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

No decision was made on whether the 17-year-old suspect will eventually be charged as an adult.  He has been charged with 2^nd Degree Murder, and other charges are pending according to a Sunday press release from the Front Royal Police Department.  By 3:30 p.m. the afternoon of the hearing, FRPD had issued a second release indicating the Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office would seek to have the suspect tried as an adult.  Court-appointed defense counsel, David Hensley of Winchester, was also named during the Monday hearing.

Law enforcement verified that the suspect and victim “were known to each other” and that Adams lived on Cherrydale Avenue in Front Royal, not far from the Kerfoot Avenue scene where she was discovered gravely injured.  Social media sites of the suspect and victim indicated Adams and her assailant had been in a relationship for about 10 weeks, since January 7, 2017.  FRPD Captain Jason Ryman verified that that the suspect was “known to have stayed with her on occasions.”

As previously reported, FRPD responded to a call of a possible hit and run on the 100 block of Kerfoot Avenue at 8:34 p.m. Saturday evening.  While responding to the first call, FRPD received a report of an attempted burglary on the nearby 100 block of South Shenandoah Avenue.  It was at that latter scene police first encountered the 17-year-old who was eventually charged with Adams murder.

Flare residue marks block of Kerfoot Avenue where Leah Adams incurred life-ending injuries from knife wounds to the chest. Police have verified that suspect was known to stay with victim, indicating accuracy of social media descriptions of a relationship between victim and alleged perpetrator. Photo/Roger Bianchini

This reporter spoke with a resident of Kerfoot Avenue who described the scene that led to the initial report of a possible hit and run resulting in Adams’ injuries.  The resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said the neighborhood was alerted to trouble by the victim’s screams.  The neighborhood lies directly across Kerfoot Avenue from the Warren County Skatepark and Soccerplex.

Adams was observed by some running across Kerfoot from the Skatepark side toward the row of residences as a vehicle was heard or seen fleeing the scene, possibly making a U-turn and knocking a mailbox at 108 Kerfoot down.  The neighbor said a woman from one of the homes was the first to reach the stricken girl, whom he said appeared to be “bleeding profusely from the neck area.”

The Monday release from FRPD confirmed this observation, citing Adams fatal injuries as “being the direct result of stab wounds to the chest area.”

The initial FRPD press release on the incident states, “… that Ms. Adams sustained life-ending injuries that were not consistent with trauma sustained as the result of a vehicle crash or a hit-and-run incident.  Additional information was received and corroborated that Ms. Adams and the male juvenile had been in some type of physical confrontation in the roadway just prior to police being called.”

The neighbor we spoke with said it was believed the individual who fled the scene, in what turned out to be Adams’ vehicle, sought to hide in what he believed was an unoccupied house, leading to the report of an attempted burglary about a block away from Kerfoot Avenue.

Stains in street may mark site where neighbors discovered and EMS units began attempts to save Leah Adams’ life. Photo/Roger Bianchini

Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Detective David Fogle at either (540) 636-2208 or by e-mail at dfogle@frontroyalva.com.