Series: Day Three - Article Three

THEFT OF STASH MET WITH SWIFT RETRIBUTION

Latasha "Shannell" Adams crossed the line.

A 25-year-old mother with a history of prostitution and crack use, Adams
looted several hundred dollars' worth of crack from a dealer, police concluded.

That affront was addressed with gunfire, and Adams was found dead on Aug.
27 just after 6 a.m. in the 900 block of Wagner Street. She had been shot
in her back, shoulder and buttocks, and was finished off with a bullet to
the head.

The coroner's toxicology report showed a blood-alcohol content of .14, well
above the legal intoxication level, along with a narcotic painkiller and
cocaine.

Dreading further retaliation, her family kept her burial private. Reached
by phone, her mother and sister declined to comment, pointing out that no
one has been arrested. They paid for a small death notice in the newspaper.
It contained the date of death followed by the words "BRUTALLY MURDERED,"
and while it referred to a host of relatives, all of the names were
omitted, including that of Adams' 9-year-old son.

Like Terry Faulkner, Adams came from a decent family, a police officer
familiar with the case said. But drugs tore at her.

"They pretty much had to let her go," he said.