CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The mother of a former Carolina Panther convicted in a murder for hire plot is speaking out just days before her son walks out of prison.
Rae Carruth was accused of hiring a gunman to kill Cherica Adams, who was seven months pregnant at the time of the shooting, in order to avoid paying child support.
Carruth was a first-round draft pick of the Panthers in 1997 from the University of Colorado. He played three seasons in the NFL, starting 14 games as a rookie in 1997 when he caught 44 passes for 545 yards and four touchdowns.
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Carruth's mother, Theodry Carruth, spoke exclusively to NBC Charlotte's Ruby Durham about the life without her son and the grandson she doesn’t know much about.
Carruth, chatting to NBC Charlotte by phone just before getting ready to leave California to meet her son as he walks out of prison. Carruth said her son's release is a joy she can't put into words.
"It's real, it's true. It's going to happen," Carruth said.
Rae Carruth's mom has been working through her son's conviction for almost two decades, standing by her son now as fiercely as she did the day she found out he was being charged.
"I know everybody has come across an unjust situation and say why us and right now we're saying why us. Why our son," Carruth said in a taped interview back when her son was first convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
PHOTOS: Rae Carruth
Carruth also questioned why she was denied joint custody of her grandson, Chancellor, born with cerebral palsy after his mother was shot 4 times.
"Every time I went to court, I was beat up and I was tried as Rae Carruth not as Theodry," Carruth told NBC Charlotte.
Cherica's mother, Saundra Adams, has had sole custody of Chancellor -- who Theodry says is a spitting image of his father.
"Nobody takes into consideration there's not just one sentence, It's a second sentence. A family, children, his children," Carruth said.
Theodry and Adams have not been able to come to an agreement about visitation, but Theodry is hopeful that Rae's release will change that situation.
"He needs to hear that his father loves him and wants to be a part of his life," Carruth said.
NBC Charlotte has transcribed the phone interview in full below:
Theodry Carruth:
"I don't think people realize that when Rae was locked up, we were locked up too. You know, being a parent you're serving a sentence right along with your child. It's real, it's true, it's going to happen. And it's just a joy that you can't put into words. It's been so long."
"As a mother, first off you can't believe -- you really have to work through it --you can't describe it because it was so horrific."
"Every time I went to court, I was beat up and I was tried as Rae Carruth not as Theodry."
"No one takes into consideration that it's not just one sentence it's a second sentence, it's a family. the children, his children. He needs to hear that his father loves him and wants to be a part of his life."
"We're older now, we're grandmothers. He's only heard of one side of what happened, he's never heard from his father and I think that he's owed that as a young man."
"He's done his time. Just let him be for a while. Just let him be."