Kerfoot Avenue murder suspect ages out of juvenile detention

The juvenile suspect in the March 25 stabbing death of 19-year-old Leah Adams on Kerfoot Avenue in Front Royal has aged out of the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Frederick County.  Both the RSW Regional Jail and Warren County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office confirmed that suspect turned 18 the first week of May, mandating his transfer out of the juvenile facility.

The suspect is scheduled for a hearing in Warren County Juvenile Court on May 25.  It is expected the Commonwealth may move to have the suspect charged as an adult at that time.  The week after the suspect was transferred to the RSW Jail, the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office explained that state law mandates the suspect be charged as an adult due to the type of crimes he is charged with.

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

The suspect, who has yet to be identified due to his age on March 25, was initially charged with Second Degree Murder, a Class 2 felony that carries a sentence of 5 to 40 years in prison.  He has also been charged with aggravated assault.  He has been held without bond since his arrest in the neighborhood where Adams died shortly after the incident transpired.

According to the victim’s Facebook page, she and her suspected murderer had been a couple for about 10 weeks prior to her death.  Witnesses say Adams was stabbed as she struggled to gain control of her SUV from her alleged assailant.  The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening on the 100 block of Kerfoot Avenue near the county soccerplex and skatepark.  Adams lived about two blocks away on Cherrydale Avenue.

Flare debris mark the site of the incident leading to Adams death on 100 block of Kerfoot Avenue on Front Royal’s south-west side. Photo/Roger Bianchini

As described to the Royal Examiner, the vehicle stopped at an approximate midpoint of the block as it traveled northbound toward the right-hand curve onto West Main Street.  At least one witness 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 as Adams attempted to lunge into the open driver’s side door.

Adams lost her grip on the vehicle, fell to the street and staggered fatally wounded to a residential driveway were she was attended by residents until emergency and law enforcement units quickly arrived at the scene.

According to authorities, Adams died from stab wounds to the upper chest.  She was pronounced dead on arrival at Warren Memorial Hospital.