TAMPA, Fla. – Jury selection begins Monday in Tampa for Tampa rapper Billy Adams, who faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child.

Tampa rapper murder trial

What we know:

Court records show that in 2023, just three days after being acquitted in a separate double-murder case, Billy Adams lured 22-year-old Alana Sims to the Easton Park neighborhood in New Tampa.

PREVIOUS: The case against Billy Adams: Court records show evidence gathered in young mother’s murder

Investigators say Adams told Sims, who was five months pregnant, that they were heading to a party to celebrate his acquittal before shooting her. A neighbor later found Adams near Sims’ car while her toddler slept unharmed in the back seat.

When cornered by law enforcement with surveillance video, Ring camera footage of his car and live ammunition found in his vehicle, Adams changed his story to claim self-defense. Adams told investigators that Sims pulled a gun on him, but he wrestled it away, shot her and threw the weapon away on his drive home. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

Courtroom developments

What we don’t know:

It remains unclear how long jury selection will take before opening arguments begin in Hillsborough County Court.

Recording studio shooting acquittal

Dig deeper:

In a separate case in 2023, Adams was found not guilty by a Hillsborough County jury after claiming self-defense in the shooting deaths of two men at a recording studio.