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Witness sought in drug-linked slayingBy MIKE BRASSFIELD © St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- Police think they've got the man who killed Richard Adams -- whose street name was "Richie Rich" -- in a drug deal that turned deadly. Now they're looking for a witness who may not even know he's a witness. Adams, 35, was shot to death May 30, only 10 days after he got out of prison. His body was found behind a vacant building at 12th Avenue S and 12th Street S. St. Petersburg detectives think Adams was shot because he sold a man fake crack cocaine. They think the angry customer was Jason Harris, 21, who is charged with first-degree murder in Adams' death. Harris was recently arrested on other charges in North Carolina and is sitting in a Fayetteville, N.C., jail, awaiting extradition to Florida. Investigators think Adams sold Harris bogus drugs, and the two men argued. Witnesses say Harris was in a newer-model white Ford Taurus with a man known only as "George." "George was there during the argument and was dropped off shortly thereafter," said homicide Detective Gary Gibson. Police think Harris then borrowed the Taurus from George, went looking for Adams and found him three blocks from where the argument had occurred. Police think Harris killed Adams and returned the car to George, who didn't know about the killing, Gibson said. Police think their unidentified witness lives or works in Hillsborough County and works at a car dealership or car rental agency where he has access to plenty of newer-model cars. Witnesses described George as a heavy white man in his 40s, 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-9, weighing at least 280 pounds. He was accompanied by a slender white woman in her late 30s. Detectives stressed that they have no plans to arrest George; they view him as a potential witness, and they want to know what he knows. "He is simply someone we'd like to speak to," Gibson said. Adams was shot in the chest and was discovered face-down in a lot across from Harold's Market. He had been dead 12 to 24 hours. Police went to the scene after someone called them anonymously from a nearby pay phone. Detectives identified Adams quickly because of a tattoo of a bag of money on his left arm. Classified as a career criminal by the state Department of Corrections, Adams had been arrested 23 times since 1981. When he was 25, he was shot in the back of the head in an alley in the 900 block of 12th Avenue S. He survived, and another man was charged with attempted murder. Adams' latest brush with the law came in 1996 when he was convicted of attempted residential burglary and battery on a law enforcement officer. He served 31/2 years at Avon Park Correctional Institute and was released May 20. He came to St. Petersburg to stay with his mother. Anyone with information was asked to call St. Petersburg police Detective Gary Gibson at (727) 893-7512.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
