DEATH PENALTY INDICTMENT FILED ON ROBERT LEE ADAMS FOR QUADRUPLE MURDERS AND FIFTH ATTEMPTED MURDER

Posted on 8/27/2015

Defendant: Robert Lee Adams

Prosecutor Ron O’Brien announces that the Franklin County Grand Jury has returned a twenty-nine count death penalty indictment on Robert Lee Adams, age 27, in connection to the June 13, 2015 attempted murder of victim T.N., and the quadruple murders of Michael Ballour, age 41, Daniel Craig Sharp, age 26, Angela D. Harrison, age 35, and Tyajah N. Nelson, age 18, that occurred in the basement of Ballour’s house located at 1623 E. Hudson Street in South Linden.

 The counts in Adam’s indictment include Aggravated Murder (based on prior calculation and design) with Specifications (death, gun, gang, and repeat violent offender), Aggravated Murder (during the commission of Agg Burg, Agg Rob, and/or Kidnapping) with Specifications (death, gun, gang, and repeat violent offender), Kidnapping with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), Aggravated Burglary with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), Aggravated Robbery with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), Murder (purposeful) with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), Murder (during the course of Agg Burg, Agg Rob, and/or Kidnapping) with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), Attempted Murder with Specifications (gun, gang, and RVO), and Weapon Under Disability with Specification (gun).  There are eight counts of Aggravated Murder and eight counts of Murder regarding the four victim deaths because there are different methods to commit the crime of murder and the Prosecutor’s Office typically charges all methods”, O’Brien stated.

 It is alleged that Adams was accompanied by juvenile Jordyn D. Wade, age 16, they robbed the victims, ordered them to the basement, and Adams then shot the victims, murdering four of them, while the Wade stood at the top of the stairs with his gun drawn.  It is further alleged that after the shooting Adams and Wade fled the scene.  One of the five victims survived the shooting and stumbled from the residence where they sought help. The juvenile involved in the shooting was picked up shortly thereafter, however Adams fled the state and was picked up two months later in Mississippi.  Wade has a bind over hearing currently set for October 28th.  O’Brien commended the Columbus Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department and the Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force for their thorough investigation and apprehension of Adams.  Arraignment for this death penalty case is set for Monday, August 31st, 2015, at 1:30 pm in courtroom 2B at 345 South High Street.