{"id":383447,"date":"2026-08-28T11:10:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383447\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T11:10:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:10:35","slug":"billy-adams-case-main-girlfriend-testifies-as-rappers-murder-trial-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383447\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Adams case: ‘Main’ girlfriend testifies as rapper’s murder trial continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Prosecutors say Tampa<\/a> rapper, Billy Adams shot his pregnant girlfriend back in 2023 in order to continue his relationship with another woman.<\/p>\n

Tampa murder trial <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Testimony continued Thursday in the murder trial of Adams, who’s accused of killing 22-year-old Alana Sims and her unborn child in January 2023. State prosecutors claim that Adams lured Sims to a secluded spot in Easton Park in New Tampa.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Billy Adams trial: Tampa rapper accused of killing pregnant girlfriend stands trial<\/a><\/p>\n

According to crime scene investigators, Sims was shot in the head from about three feet away. Prosecutors say she was five months pregnant at the time.<\/p>\n

The state argues that Adams thought he was the father of Sims’ unborn child at the time, but it was later determined that he wasn’t the father.<\/p>\n

\"\" Text message evidence <\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

Lakenya Brantley, identified as Adams’ alleged “main” girlfriend, took the witness stand Thursday morning to detail their relationship. Brantley testified that she and Adams called each other husband and wife.<\/p>\n

She also read text messages that she sent to Adams the day before the shooting.<\/p>\n

“‘I’m just so sad, because I thought we was gonna have a real relationship’,” Brantley read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Do you then send the next text messages that’s below it?” attorney’s asked. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“Correct,” she responded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“What does that one say?”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She’s pregnant and still here,” Brantley read. “Who is she? ‘Alana’.”<\/p>\n

During cross-examination, Brantley said she knew Sims was pregnant for some time, and that Adams told her he wasn’t the father.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“Alana being pregnant, although you were upset in those text messages, was not something that would’ve destroyed your relationship?” The defense asked Brantley. “‘No.'”<\/p>\n

Police station questioning <\/p>\n

Timeline:<\/p>\n

Jurors watched about two hours of video footage Thursday afternoon showing detectives with the Tampa Police Department interviewing Adams at his home and police headquarters.<\/p>\n

During an interview at TPD headquarters, Adams told detectives he never saw or spoke to Sims on the night she was killed.<\/p>\n

“I never saw her. We didn’t talk,” Adams said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“‘Isn’t it strange though, you’re in the same subdivision, and she was killed at the same time?'” the TPD detective said.<\/p>\n

Adams claimed he was in the neighborhood visiting a different woman. Detectives pointed out that neighborhood surveillance placed Adams in the exact same subdivision around the same time Sims was murdered.<\/p>\n

“She was there, being murdered, at the exact same time that you were in that subdivision,” the TPD detective said. “At the exact same time. You and her are in the exact same subdivision at the exact same time, and she was murdered.”<\/p>\n

Murder trial continues <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The state is expected to continue presenting evidence on Friday. Adams could face the death penalty if convicted.<\/p>\n

What we don’t know:<\/p>\n

It’s not clear whether Adams will take the stand in his own defense.<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from courtroom testimony, Tampa Police Department interview recordings and statements made by prosecutors and defense attorneys.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Prosecutors say Tampa rapper, Billy Adams shot his pregnant girlfriend back in 2023 in order…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-383447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}