Juvenile hearing on Adams murder case continued to May 25

A scheduled preliminary hearing in the case stabbing death of 19-year-old Leah Adams on Kerfoot Avenue on March 25 was continued on Thursday (April 6).  A new hearing date of May 25, at 3 p.m. was set for the 17-year-old juvenile male suspect.

The continuation was scheduled prior to the slated Thursday hearing time of 2:30 p.m., precluding the necessity of transport of the suspect, who is being held at the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Frederick County. Due to the defendant’s age the second hearing in the case (the first was March 27) was again set for Warren County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

However, the commonwealth’s attorneys office has expressed the intent to prosecute him as an adult.  The suspect has been charged with Second Degree Murder, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of 5 to 40 years in prison upon conviction.  The suspect is currently being held without bond.

No attorneys for either side appeared to be present when bailiffs confirmed the continuation for media waiting outside the courtroom as the hearing time approached.  Media was not allowed inside the courtroom for the March 27 hearing.  However, a straw poll of the three outlets present on April 6 (Royal Examiner, Warren Sentinel and Northern Virginia Daily) indicated a desire to petition the court to be allowed into juvenile court for further hearings under the circumstances of the case.

Those circumstances are:

• The only juvenile involved is the defendant;
• The commonwealth’s stated intent to prosecute him as an adult;
• All three media outlets covering the case locally know the defendant’s name and have not yet published it;
• The nature of the case and public interest in it.

A Facebook photo purported to be Adams with her accused murderer (we have blocked face due to his status as a juvenile suspect at this time).

Included in the potential nature of the case is the possibility of illegal drug use in the events that transpired between the alleged murderer and his victim.  Earlier Facebook posts of the victim and suspect indicate they had been in a relationship for about 10 weeks prior to the March 25 murder.  Front Royal Police confirmed the suspect was known to stay at Adams’ residence “on occasion”.

According to a second source present on the 100 block of Kerfoot Avenue in Front Royal at the time of the incident (10:30 p.m.), the involved vehicle (later identified as Adams’ and described by the witness as an SUV) stopped at an approximate midpoint of the block as it traveled northbound toward the right-hand curve onto West Main Street.  That scenario fits since the incident is believed to have begun at Adams’ residence on Cherrydale Avenue about two blocks to the southwest.

At least one neighborhood resident reportedly saw Adams exit the passenger side of the vehicle and move to the driver’s side while the car was stopped.  However, the driver then began to pull away and we were told Adams appeared to try and cling to the moving vehicle through the driver’s side window.

A perspective on the block where Leah Adams was stabbed to death, apparently trying to regain control of her vehicle from a juvenile described as her boyfriend. The view is northbound, the direction one witness described Adams’ vehicle traveling during the fatal encounter. Flare residue marks south perimeter of the police investigation of the site. Photo/Roger Bianchini

As the car began to swerve to the right Adams lost her grip and fell away as the car struck two mailboxes, reacquired the street and made the turn onto West Main Street.  A resident told us the vehicle was apparently abandoned just around the corner, indicating the driver fled the scene on foot.  He was first encountered by police about a block away at Viscose Drive’s intersection with South Shenandoah Avenue as they responded to an almost simultaneous report of a possible burglary attempt there.

James Wood High grad and LFCC student Leah Adams, dead at 19. Facebook photo

Some neighbors inside their homes were alerted to a situation by Adams’ screams as she got up and ran toward the residential side of the street.  She fell at a driveway entrance near 104 Kerfoot.  The witness said blood was spurting profusely from Adams neck-upper chest area to a degree indicative of a severed artery.  Adams was transported to Warren Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.

Front Royal Police confirmed the cause of death as “stab wounds to the chest area”.  The initial FRPD release also stated that the juvenile suspect was transported to Warren Memorial Hospital with what were described as “minor injuries”.