A Florida rapper convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend asked a judge to sentence him to deathfor the crime.
Billy Adams, 28, who performed under the name Ace NH, was convicted in September of killing Alana Sims, 22, and her unborn baby. Prosecutors alleged Adams shot Sims in the back of the head in 2023 to be with another woman. It was later determined Adams was not the father of Sims’ unborn child.
A jury voted 8-4 that Adams should be sentenced to death. A judge will make a ruling at sentencing Dec. 1.
Why did a Florida rapper request the death penalty?
Adams sent a letter to a Hillsborough County judge asking the judge to accept the jury’s recommendation, according to court documents filed Oct. 12.
"I don't want my lawyers to present any mitigation or arguments at this hearing, and I am
asking this court to sentence me to what the jury voted for,” according to the letter. “I don’t have an issue with the death penalty.”
How common is it for convicted killers to ask for death penalty?
The state attorney’s officetold FOX 13a request like this is “not common.”
James Robertson, 63, was executed in Florida on Oct. 13 for killed his cellmate in 2008. It was a crime he said he did specifically to get on death row after being in prison since he was 17.
He waived all appeal chances.
The anti-death penalty advocacy group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said requests to be on death row raises "deeply troubling questions about isolation, despair, and the use of execution as a means of escaping incarceration."
Such a desired "homicide as suicide" also points to the ineffectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent, the group said.
On Oct. 1, during a Zoom case management conference, Robertson confirmed his wish to be executed.
"Because I was found guilty," he said. "You know, I chose the death penalty over the life sentence, and I just, you know, want the sentence to be carried out."
Michelle Spitzer is a journalist for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. As the network’s Rapid Response reporter, she covers Florida’s breaking news. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida rapper convicted of murder asks judge for death sentence
