Leah Adams accused murderer indicted in Warren County Circuit Court

Bailey Powell’s RSW Jail mugshot

On Monday, June 5, the accused murderer of 19-year-old Leah Adams was indicted in Warren County Circuit Court.  Bailey Powell, now 18, is accused of the March 25 stabbing death of Adams on Kerfoot Avenue in Front Royal.  Due to his age, 17 at the time of the crime, Powell’s identity has thus far been withheld in media reports.

The grand jury indictment against Powell states, “On or about March 25, 2017 in the County of Warren, Bailey Lincoln Powell, did unlawfully, feloniously and maliciously kill and murder Leah Marie Adams in violation of Section 18.2-32 of the Code of Virginia, as amended.”  Powell was initially charged in Juvenile Court 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.

Initially held in the Frederick County Juvenile Detention facility, Powell was transferred to RSW Regional Jail after turning 18 on May 9.

An evidentiary hearing in circuit court was scheduled for June 29, at 8:45 a.m.  According to Powell attorneys David Hensley and Beau Bassler that hearing involves seeking an independent lab analysis of both the victim and their client’s blood.  State labs do not test for LSD, the drug allegedly involved in the fatal incident.

According to social media posts of both the victim and her accused murderer, Powell and Adams had been in a relationship for about 10 weeks at the time of Adams’ death.

Social media photo of Leah Adams and Bailey Powell during happier times.

According to testimony at an emotional May 25 hearing open to the public in Warren County Juvenile Court, Powell had ingested LSD, a psychotropic drug the day of Adams murder.  Witnesses painted a picture of a suspect thrown into acute paranoia by his drug intake, then deciding to flee Adams’ Cherrydale Avenue home, where several friends were gathered, in her vehicle.

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Adams attempt to regain control of her car around 10:30 p.m. on a Friday evening ended about 3 blocks.  Law enforcement witnesses said Powell told them Adams threw the car into park from the passenger seat on the 100 block of Kerfoot Avenue, across the street from the Warren County skatepark and soccerplex.

Neighborhood witnesses said the car began to move as Adams was attempting to enter through the open driver’s side door.  As the car swerved to the right, northbound, eventually knocking two mailboxes over, Adams fell into the street.  Witnesses said she rose screaming for help, falling at a driveway where she was initially assisted by residents, including a nurse and off-duty Front Royal policeman.

She was pronounced dead on arrival at Warren Memorial Hospital a short time later.

Powell was taken into custody after creating a disturbance about two blocks away, after abandoning Adams’ vehicle around the corner from where Adams fell fatally wounded from two stab wounds to the chest.

Witnesses who encountered Powell described him alternately asking people if they had a pistol and yelling for someone to kill him.  Law enforcement officers, who questioned Powell the night of the murder, testified on May 25 that the suspect stated at various times that he didn’t stab Adams; didn’t remember stabbing her; or that it was an accident.

The officer who stayed with Powell throughout the night in a room where he was held at Warren Memorial Hospital, said he repeatedly asked, “Is she dead?” or “Is she really dead?” – but without showing normal signs of remorse.