Part love story and part murder mystery, this is the remarkable tale of a "miracle" that began on Nov. 16, 1999, when a hitman tried to murder NFL star Rae Carruth's pregnant girlfriend. Hosted by Charlotte Observer reporter Scott Fowler, who has covered this saga for 19 years. Coming Oct. 16. Subscribe now.

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Cherica Adams, a former model and dancer from Charlotte, meets NFL player Rae Carruth at a party. Carruth, a Sacramento native, has looks and a magnetic charm. Soon Cherica is pregnant—but the trail of women in Carruth's past suggest the Carolina Panthers first-round draft pick is struggling with adult responsibility in the face of adulation lavished upon a star athlete.

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A murder plot unfolds. From deep inside a maximum-security prison, hitman Van Brett Watkins offers an unflinching account of the deal he struck with Rae Carruth to kill Cherica Adams and their unborn son. Along with confession tapes and a gripping 911 call, a portrait of Carruth as a master manipulator emerges. But to this day, some vehemently dispute his involvement.

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Emergency crews race Cherica Adams to Carolinas Medical Center, where her son, Chancellor Lee, is born via emergency C-section, 10 weeks premature and weighing less than 4 pounds. As both fight for life, police investigators describe to us piecing together the events of that night, with Cherica’s handwritten notes from her hospital bed pointing the way toward Rae Carruth.

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As funeral arrangements are made in Charlotte, Rae Carruth flees the state. Soon, he’s the target of an FBI manhunt led by agent Mark Post, who recreates for us the trail that led him to a motel parking lot in rural Tennessee, where he found Carruth in the trunk of a Toyota Camry. Soon, Carruth becomes the first active NFL player to be charged with first-degree murder.

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Chancellor Lee goes home from the hospital with his maternal grandmother, Saundra Adams. Soon, the most notorious trial in Charlotte history gets under way, as lawyers spar with witnesses and each other. With Rae Carruth facing the death penalty, his lead defense attorney recounts in detail the strategy to make their case and save Carruth's life.

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Jury foreman Clark Pennell recounts for us the tense deliberations before delivering a verdict against Rae Carruth. Chancellor Lee's doctors diagnose him with Cerebral Palsy as a result of his traumatic birth. His speech is halting and his movement labored, yet Chancellor Lee surpasses doctors’ expectations for his progress and development in physical therapy, and at home.

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As Rae Carruth’s prison release date nears, Saundra Adams, the mother of the pregnant woman Carruth conspired to murder, tells us she’s found a way to forgive the men who killed Cherica Adams. She wonders what if any relationship Carruth should have with Chancellor Lee, as she honors her daughter’s legacy through advocacy work on behalf of domestic violence survivors.

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