Raquel Adams sentenced to 40 years for second-degree murder

Apr. 21—WELCH — After saying she was sorry for her role in the murder of a McDowell County man who was shot, beaten with a shovel, run over with a four-wheeler, dosed with gasoline and then burned, a local woman was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder.

In August 2022, Raquel Deshowa Adams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of 33-year-old Marcus Darcell Edwards of Welch. Edwards was found deceased on Sept. 20, 2021 in the Havaco area.

A second person in the case, 25-year-old Kobe Brown of Havaco, was sentenced on March 24 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty in January to first-degree murder.

Wearing an orange regional jail uniform and shackles, Adams was brought Thursday before Circuit Court Judge Edward Kornish for sentencing. As part of the plea agreement, the state remained silent, said Prosecuting Attorney Brittany Puckett. Adams had agreed to cooperate and testify if Brown's case went to trial as part of the plea agreement.

Judge Kornish read two letters from the victim's family into the record. Edwards' father, Jimmy Stephens Jr., asked the court to impose the maximum sentence and spoke about "the horrific and unjust death of my son."

Edwards' sister, Lashawn Stephens, said in her letter to the court that the loss of her brother was "overwhelming."

"You took my brother's life," she stated to Adams. "As if it was a game, you murdered my brother."

Before sentencing Adams, Kornish spoke to Adams about her role in the murder of Marcus Darcell Edwards.

"You both shot him," the judge said. "You got a shovel and hit him on the head. Kobe ran over him with a four-wheeler and you got the gasoline and set him on fire."

Kornish said if their cases had gone to trial, the juries likely would have found both Brown and Adams guilty of first-degree murder without recommending mercy.

Adams had told her probation officer how she feared Brown would kill her if she did not help him murder Edwards. Kornish said that both she and Brown had a gun, and that there was no evidence of Edwards threatening either of them.

Kornish said that when Brown told her to get a shovel and then get gasoline, she had the opportunity to flee and call for help.

"You can't, in an effort to protect your life, kill somebody who was not threatening you," Kornish said.

During Brown's sentencing last March, Kornish said that Edwards was "trying to do something positive" about drug abuse in Havaco.

Edwards had been cooperating with law enforcement, and Kornish said then that he believed Edwards had found drugs Brown had hidden near some railroad tracks and turned them over to the police.

Kornish told Brown then that he believed the murder of Edwards was "retribution" for the loss of the drugs.

"We have too many senseless killings in Havaco over drugs and this was a killing over drugs," Kornish told Adams.

Based on the murder's "horrific" nature and the multiple decisions she made when Edwards was murdered, Adams was not a good candidate for probation or a lesser sentence, Kornish. He then proceeded to sentence her to the maximum term of 40 years in prison.

Puckett said after the hearing the Adams must serve 10 years of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole, and that parole was not guaranteed.

"Good luck to you," Kornish said. "That concludes this hearing. You can take her back to jail."

Adams was represented by attorney R. Keith Flinchum.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com