Dad sentenced to 50 years for shooting mom, daughter (Florence, Alabama)

Dad WILLIE DWIGHT ADAMS has been sentenced to 50 years for shooting his wife and teenage daughter. Dad's mother is claiming he's mentally ill, and that Adams was upset because his wife wanted a divorce. (Now why would she want a divorce? Maybe, just maybe, because he's a violent whack-job idiot?)

And get this: Dad's mother defends his actions by saying that if the Dad had wanted to kill his wife and daughter, he would have done so (!)

How very comforting. So now we should all be very grateful that Dad only wounded his wife and daughter with the 12-gauge shotgun and 9 mm pistol. Such a nice man, really.

And now we have an inkling as to why Dad is so messed up.

http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090904/ARTICLES/909045042/1011/NEWS?Title=Man-sentenced-to-50-years

Man sentenced to 50 years

By Dennis Sherer
Staff Writer

Published: Friday, September 4, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 10:58 p.m.

FLORENCE - A Lexington man was sentenced Thursday to 50 years in prison for shooting his wife and daughter.

Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge Mike Jones sentenced Willie Dwight Adams to 30 years in prison for shooting his wife, Sherry, and 20 years for shooting his teenage daughter, Lucinda. The sentences must be served in succession.

Adams, 51, was convicted in August of attempted murder for shooting Sherry Adams with a 9 mm pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun and first-degree domestic violence for shooting Lucinda Adams with the shotgun. The shootings occurred May 24, 2008, at Willie Adams' home on Lauderdale 494.

At the trial, Lucinda Adams testified she was wounded in her leg by two shotgun pellets as she attempted to protect her mother. Sherry Adams was shot in her arm and leg from the pistol and in her ankle from the shotgun. A jury of eight men and four women deliberated for 50 minutes before convicting Willie Adams.

At Thursday's sentencing hearing, Will Powell, chief assistant Lauderdale district attorney, asked Jones to impose a lengthy prison term.

"This man shot his daughter and tried to kill his wife. What the state would like to see happen is for him to receive the maximum sentence on the attempted murder charge and add 20 years to it for shooting his daughter," Powell said.

Adams could have been sentenced to life in prison for either conviction.

Defense attorney Marshall Gardner told Jones that Adams suffers from a variety of health problems and would likely die in prison if he were sentenced to anything more than the minimum sentence of 20 years. "Any significant sentence is likely to be the same as life without parole."

Willie Adams' mother, Margie Adams, asked Jones for leniency.

She said her son suffers from manic depression and bi-polar disorder and was not thinking clearly at the time of the shooting. She said Adams was upset because Sherry Adams was seeking a divorce.

Sherry Adams and her daughter were living in Elkmont at the time of the shooting and had returned to Willie Adams' home for a visit when the attack occurred.

Margie Adams said if Willie Adams had intended to kill Sherry Adams, he would have succeeded. "If he'd been aiming to kill her, she would be a dead woman. All of my sons are good at hitting what they shoot at."

Powell said Sherry and Lucinda Adams, who left the courtroom without commenting, were pleased with the sentence.

"They were willing to allow him to plead guilty in exchange for a 40-year sentence," Powell said. "But he chose to go to trial, was convicted and received a 50-year sentence. They are satisfied with the outcome."