A Georgia man is facing life in prison after killing his girlfriend and her teenage son. William Jerome Adams was recently sentenced for the 2021 killings. Shortly after shooting the woman and her son, Adams ran, and attempted to flee the country. However, his attempt was unsuccessful, and he was soon apprehended. It is unclear if police were ever able to establish a motive for the killings, but accounts from the woman’s family point towards possible abuse.
On August 1, 2025, 29-year-old William Jerome Adams was found guilty of two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault, per a press release from the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office. In March 2021, Adams fatally shot his girlfriend, 39-year-old Mary Lindsay, and her 15-year-old son, Atif Muhammad Jr.
Lindsay’s 19-year-old daughter was called by a friend to check on her mother on March 26, 2021. No one had heard from her for a few days. So the young woman and her sister, Muhammad’s twin sister, went to the home. Neither of the young women lived with their mother.
After gaining access to the home through a window, she found her 8-year-old brother asleep in their mother’s bed. Her mother and brother were found dead in a locked bedroom, and she called for police. Police determined that Lindsay and Muhammad had been shot two days earlier, and the younger boy had slept in the home with their dead bodies for two days. The boy was apparently unaware his mother and brother were dead.
Three 9mm shell casings were found next to their bodies, and police were able to match the shell casings to other ammunition found in the master bedroom. This led to police putting out a warrant for Adams’ arrest.
About a day later, William Jerome Adams was arrested in Laredo, Texas, after attempting to cross the border into Mexico. He was traveling under an assumed name, and didn’t have a passport. According to investigators, he had also taken $2,000 from Lindsay’s bank account.
During the trial, Muhammad’s twin testified that they had previously found a gun in the home and took a picture of it. Lindsay told her children that it belonged to Adams.
While police haven’t given a motive for the crime, testimony stated that Adams was controlling. Prosecutors showed a photo Lindsay had taken of an arm injury caused by Adams.
William Jerome Adams will serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
“The verdict and sentence are fitting for a defendant who violently took the life of a mother and son and stole from them,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “We mourn with the victims’ family and hope that the outcome of the trial gives them some closure and justice.”
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women’s shelter domesticshelters.org.
