TAMPA, Fla. — Billy Bennett Adams III, a hip-hop artist who performs as Ace NH and who was acquitted last month on two counts of murder, has been newly arrested on two murder charges in connection to the Jan. 27 death of a pregnant Tampa woman.
Adams, 25, killed Alana Sims, 22, on Jan. 30 and left her beside her parked SUV in a New Tampa subdivision called Easton Park, the Tampa Police Department said Wednesday. Her toddler son was found unharmed, sleeping in a car seat in the back seat, but Sims died. Adams is being charged with two counts, one for Sims and one for her unborn child, police said.
Police have not released Sims’ name because of Marsy’s Law but her family has publicly confirmed that she is the victim in the case.
The slaying happened three days after a Tampa jury acquitted Adams on two counts of murder in the 2020 shooting of two men in a Lutz recording studio.
It took the panel of six men and six women about four hours to acquit Adams of two counts of first-degree murder. They apparently heeded arguments that Adams killed Trevon Albury and Daniel Thompson in self-defense.
It was a stunning conclusion to a weeklong trial that Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Sabella said was “at the very least a close call.”
A pivotal moment in the trial came when Adams, 25, took the witness stand and calmly explained why he killed Albury and Thompson.
Adams described how a late-night session in the small Lutz recording studio turned tense when he overheard the pair talk about robbing the studio’s owner, Joseph Meeks.
He said he saw Albury pull a gun and point it at Meeks, who sat unaware of the danger.
“I pulled out my gun and I shot Mr. Albury,” Adams said, “in fear for Mr. Meeks being shot or myself being shot.”
Thompson then reached for Adams’ gun, he said. Adams shot him twice in the face.
“I was in fear that he would have shot me or Mr. Meeks,” Adams said. “So I shot Mr. Thompson, back-to-back.”
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(Tampa Bay Times staff reporter Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.)
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