Phillip Adams was born on July 20, 1988, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Adams would go on to attend Rock Hill High School, where he played football and basketball.
Adams would later enroll after graduating from high school at South Carolina State in Orangeburg, where he played cornerback on the team from 2006 until 2009. After his college career, Adams was drafted in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. He would have a six-year pro career, and played for the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, and Atlanta Falcons, before he called it quits after the 2015 season.
There is not much information on what Adams did from 2016 until 2021. But, on a sunny afternoon on April 7, 2021, Phillip Adams hopped on a four-wheeler and left the house that he shared with his parents, and moments later, six would lose their lives.
During that short trip on that day, Adams stopped at a home owned by a prominent local physician, Robert Lesslie, and his wife, Barbara. Adams killed both, including two of their grandchildren, Adah, aged 9, and Noah, aged 5. Adams also killed two air-conditioning technicians that was performing work at Lesslie’s house, James Lewis and Robert Shook, before leaving the property. Of the last victims of the shooting rampage, one died days later on April 10.
Phillip Adams left the premises and returned home. The next day, April 8, 2021, during a standoff with law enforcement at his parents’ house, the 32-year-old Phillip Adams fatally shot himself. Police said Adams’ mother was inside the home during the standoff, but was safely removed from the premises.
Adams did not have a prior criminal record, and the tragic events on that April day haunted the entire York County community. What could lead a person to abruptly snap? That answer came later, when it was discovered that Adam suffered from the brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or as it is better known, C.T.E.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.