A year after ex-NFL player killed 6 people, no one can explain Phillip Adams’ act
On the sunny afternoon of April 7, 2021 around 4:45 p.m., former NFL player Phillip Adams hopped on a four-wheeler and left the Rock Hill house where he lived with his parents. When he returned a short while later, Adams had fatally shot six people.
Hours after that, with York County Sheriff’s Office deputies surrounding his house after they had evacuated his father and disabled mother, Adams killed himself. He was 32.
A year later, and after brain experts said Adams had a chronic brain injury that may have come from repetitive football trauma, no one is sure why Adams committed the act of violence.
The killings for a few days was one of the biggest stories in America because of the confluence of gun violence and football fame. President Joe Biden mentioned the shootings in a speech the day after. The shootings were covered on the networks, USA Today and cable giants such as FOX and CNN and ESPN.
The December revelation that Adams had a severe brain injury also was a national story.
Adams’ father, Alonzo Adams, said early this week in a telephone interview with The Herald that the past year has been very difficult. Alonzo Adams said he and his family think about the victims and their families each day.
“We have not stopped praying for them,” he said Monday. “We send our prayers out to them. Our hearts continue to ache for them.”
Phillip Adams played football at Rock Hill High School before going on to play at S.C. State University and later in the NFL. He played defensive back. Adams played for the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Atlanta Falcons before his career ended due to injuries. He played professionally from 2010 to 2016.
After football, Adams had physical and emotional troubles, his family and his sports agent said. He sought a disability claim from the NFL but was denied, his family said in a December statement when the results of the brain injuries were revealed.
At the time of his death, Phillip Adams lived at his parents’ home despite having made a good living in the NFL. Alonzo Adams said he continues to believe that medical problems caused by his son’s years playing football contributed to the violent act.
“We have said all along it was probably connected,” Alonzo Adams said. “He was really having a rough time. He wasn’t himself. If he would have been the Phillip we raised, he never would have done it.”
The killings
Adams killed Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife, Barbara Lesslie, and two of their grandchildren, Adah, 9, and Noah, 5, according to York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson. Two HVAC workers at the Lesslie home that day — James Lewis and Robert Shook of Gaston County in North Carolina — also were fatally shot.
Shook and Lewis were shot outside the home, Tolson said. Deputies interviewed a witness who saw Adams shoot Lewis and Shook, sheriff’s office documents show.
Adams then went in the house and shot the four Lesslie family members who were found in a workout room, Tolson said.
Adams, who lived nearby, later shot himself at the family home on Marshall Road south of Rock Hill.
‘Why’ remains a mystery
Deputies found more than 20 guns at the Adams’ home. The guns were all legally owned by Phillip Adams, Tolson said.
At the shooting scene, deputies found Adams’ cellphone and other evidence that pointed to Adams, including bullet casings that matched Adams’ guns used in the shootings, records show. A police car dashcam video showed the four-wheeler being driven near the scene after the shootings as police arrived, records show.
Deputies also found a journal and cryptic writings at Adams’ home, search warrant records show. But even after a year that included FBI analysis of the seized materials, investigators have not been able to say why Adams committed the act. Adams left no suicide note, Tolson said.
Deputies interviewed dozens of people and found no clear motive. The FBI and deputies have not been able to link Adams’ journal and other writings to the attack, Tolson said.
“The motive remains unclear,” Tolson said this week. “Only one person, Phillip Adams, knew the motive. And that person is not here.”
Tolson said it also remains unclear why Adams targeted the Lesslie family, who were neighbors.
“There are no obvious indicators about why those were the victims,” Tolson said. “Again, only one person knew the why.”
Drugs and brain injury
Adams had prescribed amphetamines in his system at the time of the killings. He also had consumed an over-the-counter drug called Kratom — which can be a stimulant in small doses and act similarly to opiates in large doses — said Sabrina Gast, York County Coroner.
The Herald and Charlotte Observer were the first media outlets to confirm that coroner Gast had asked the nation’s leading head trauma experts in Boston to study Adams’ brain.
Gast said this week the coroner’s investigation is over now that the CTE study showed Adams had the CTE disease.
In December, experts at Boston University who study the brain disease said Adams had an abnormally severe chronic brain injury called CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The disease is brought on by “a history of repetitive brain trauma” in people such as athletes and war combat veterans, the experts said.
Adams had several concussions during his playing career, according to the Boston experts and an investigation by Gast.
Yet no officials with the coroner, sheriff’s office, FBI, or any other agency have said CTE, or concussions, or the drugs in his system, caused Phillip Adams to commit the killings.
“Even a year later, we can’t say why,” Tolson said this week.
Legal battle over alleged wrongful death
Adams is believed to have acted alone in the crimes, Tolson said. There is no evidence that anyone deputies interviewed knew the attack was imminent, Tolson said.
Because Adams died from suicide, no criminal charges were filed.
In late 2021, the widow of Robert Shook filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in federal court in South Carolina against the estate of Phillip Adams. In lawsuit filings, lawyers for the Shook family said they have sought information from the sheriff’s office, coroner, and NFL teams about Adams’ medical history. The Shooks have received some records from one NFL team but are awaiting more information from other teams, the court filings state.
In March 2021, Alonzo Adams, as administrator of his son’s estate, produced records pursuant to a prior agreement that contained the disability claims and other records he recently acquired from the NFL/NFL Players Association, court filings in the lawsuit state.
It remains unclear what medical materials have been discovered in the lawsuit. No NFL team, nor the league itself, has filed any legal documents in the case.
In February, a federal judge issued a confidentiality order pertaining to the materials discovered in the civil lawsuit case.
Adams had sought a disability claim from the NFL before the incident, court filings in the lawsuit state. He was not eligible for a NFL players class action concussion lawsuit settlement because his time period of playing was not the same as the lawsuit’s parameters, court filings show. Efforts to seek comment from the NFL this week through email were unsuccessful.
A review of federal court records and state court records in South Carolina and York County show the Shook lawsuit to be the only legal action filed in the shootings. Efforts to reach the lawyers for the Shook family this week were unsuccessful.
Families devastated
After the brain injury CTE results were made public, the Adams family issued a statement saying their son had mental turmoil, memory problems and had sought help from the NFL.
The Lesslie family issued a statement in December when the CTE results were made public that said “Even in the midst of crushing heartbreak, we are finding some comfort in the CTE results and the explanation they provide for the irrational behaviors pertaining to this tragedy.”
Efforts to reach the family this week through a spokesman and by email were unsuccessful.
The Shook family issued this statement in December: “Holly Shook and the Shook children continue to grieve the loss of Robert, a devoted husband a loved father. Holly hopes to find answers that will prevent similar tragic outcomes.”
A year later
Phillip Adams is survived by a young son, a sister and his parents. His mother, Phyllis Paden-Adams, was a longtime schoolteacher in the Rock Hill district until she was disabled in a traffic crash in 2010.
The family decided to stay in York County despite the constant reminders of the deaths, Alonzo Adams said. The family has weekly church activities and other support, Alonzo Adams said.
He said he remains a full-time caregiver for his wife as they think about the incident and the impact on the victims and their families.
“They (the victims and families) are in our hearts,” he said. “We want them to know we are sorry it happened. We will live with this until we die.”
Herald reporter Alex Zietlow contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 1:35 PM with the headline "A year after ex-NFL player killed 6 people, no one can explain Phillip Adams’ act."
