Brittny Adams

Background

Seven months after seeing his father shot dead during an altercation at his Lawrence home, Jeremy Edens stood in Douglas County District Court and directed his gaze at the woman who pleaded guilty to the shooting. He addressed 20-year-old Brittny Marie Adams, of Topeka, who was sentenced to 155 months, or nearly 13 years, in prison for second-degree murder for the July 2013 death of Gary Edens, 51, at his home in the 600 block of Michigan Street.

The offence

Adams had been accused of shooting Edens in the back of the head just outside the front door of his home in the 600 block of Michigan Street on July 17, 2013.

Adams and Johnathan Rush engaged in events that led to a struggle at Edens’ door. According to previous testimony, Jeremy Edens and Gary Edens engaged in a struggle with Johnathan Rush, 29, of Wichita, after Rush drove Adams to the Edens’ home in search of her missing car.

Investigation

A Lawrence Police Department detective testified that Adams told investigators she had been abandoned in Topeka by two women who took her car.

During interviews with detectives, Adams said her gun fired as she hit Edens “in a swiping motion” when Edens and his 29-year-old son, Jeremy, struggled with Rush.

Brown testified that Adams told him she brought two handguns to the home to intimidate residents as she looked for information about the girls who allegedly had her car.

Brown and Eastman both shared accounts of Adams later describing how she wiped down the gun allegedly used to shoot Edens before throwing it out of a window in Topeka.

Brown also said Adams destroyed her cellphone and also threw it out of the car’s window after fleeing the scene.

The prosecution said Adams pulled the gun out of her waistband and shot Edens at close range, evidence that Adams regularly carried loaded guns, and that she tried to dispose of the gun and phone after the shooting as sufficient ground on which to increase the charges.

Arrest

Rush and Adams were arrested in southeast Topeka within an hour after Edens’ death, which was reported to police at about 6:20 p.m.

Adams was arrested in Topeka Wednesday along with Jonathan R. Rush, 28, of Wichita, less than an hour after police found Gary Edens, 51, shot and killed at his home in the 600 block of Michigan St.

Jeremy Edens said he had heard a gunshot as he struggled with Rush and soon saw his father on the ground, not moving. After hearing the shot, Edens released his grip on Rush and took cover behind a recreational vehicle parked outside the home. Edens said Rush pointed a gun at him but didn’t fire before fleeing in a purple Pontiac with Adams.

Rush told detectives that Adams threw a handgun out of the window while on Interstate 70 on the way to Topeka and that she later threw Rush’s handgun out the window shortly before being stopped in Topeka, according to federal court documents.

Rush is now serving a 40-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in November to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Rush had a prior felony conviction, for criminal possession of a firearm, in Shawnee County in 2005.

Adams remained in Douglas County Jail on a $100,000 bond at the time of the December preliminary hearing coverage.

Trial

During a December preliminary hearing, the prosecution uped its charges to premeditated first-degree murder.

The preliminary hearing included testimony from a former Douglas County Jail cellmate who said Adams bragged about killing Edens.

Jessic Eastman testified that she shared a cell with Adams for two and a half days before Adams requested a transfer. Eastman testified that Adams told her she intentionally killed Gary Edens and had told Johnathan Rush, a Wichita man who drove her to the Edens’ home, to kill Jeremy Edens, too.

Eastman said: “She said she blew his brains out.”

Eastman also testified that Adams told her she held her gun to the back of Edens’ head and pointed it upward to make it look like the gun had accidentally discharged—something she said Rush had instructed her to do to create the appearance of an accident.

M.T. Brown, a Lawrence Police Department detective, told the court that Adams said Rush, 29, drove her to the residence at 647 Michigan St. in search of two girls who abandoned Adams in Topeka and took off with her car.

Brown also testified that the gun that was fired into Edens’ head was stored in the waistband of a pair of shorts Adams wore under a summer dress.

Jeremy Edens testified that he was at the home at which Gary Edens was said to have been living since January when he saw his father answer the door and noticed Adams and a man at the doorstep. Jeremy Edens said he had met Adams through a mutual friend at the same location the Sunday before the shooting, and that he became concerned when he saw his father step outside and close the door. He said he grabbed Rush as Rush reached for a gun.

According to the federal court documents related to criminal gun charges brought against Rush following the incident, Rush later told detectives that while the Edenses struggled to gain control over Rush’s handgun, a gunshot was heard and Gary Edens fell to the ground, and Rush told investigators it wasn’t his gun that fired.

Sentencing

During the sentencing hearing, Jeremy Edens appeared while in custody and serving an unrelated sentence in Henry County in Missouri.

Edens directed his statement to Adams before District Judge Sally Pokorny handed down her sentence. Adams did not address the court before sentencing.

Edens referred to his father’s younger son from a separate marriage, who was 6 at the time of the shooting, and to two grandchildren who “have to grow up without a grandpa.”

Edens said: “You took a good man’s life.”

Edens said: “That was a selfish act you did on July 17.”

Edens said: “I don’t know if you feel any remorse or not over this. Only God knows that.”

Before Jeremy Edens finished addressing Adams, he compared her sentence with the loss of his father’s life. Edens said: “You really got the good end of the bargain.”

District Judge Sally Pokorny sentenced Adams to 155 months, or nearly 13 years, in prison on February 27, 2014 for second-degree murder.

As part of a plea agreement, Adams would serve her sentence on top of two additional felony counts of threatening a Douglas County Jail corrections officer, for which she was also sentenced to six months each.

Adams pleaded guilty on Jan. 17, after plea negotiations, to intentional second-degree murder.

As part of the plea agreement, Adams would serve her prison time without filing departure motions related to sentencing or requesting probation.

Adams must be registered as a violent offender for 10 years following her sentence.

During the Jan. 17 court proceedings, Adams entered a plea of no contest to two counts of felony criminal threats made to a corrections officer at the Douglas County Jail.

Appeals

No appeals were described.

Outcome

Adams pleaded guilty to intentional second-degree murder and was sentenced to 155 months, or nearly 13 years, in prison, along with two consecutive six-month sentences for felony criminal threats to a Douglas County Jail corrections officer.

Rush pleaded guilty in November to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and was awaiting sentencing. Rush faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Lesser charges filed against Rush in Douglas County were dismissed when criminal firearm possession charges were taken up in federal court.

Aftermath

Edens’ widow, Susan Burris attended the proceedings.

The July 17, 2013 shooting death of Gary Edens was described as the first homicide in Lawrence since 2008 and the first of three that took place last year. In November, 67-year-old Larry Hopkins was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his 61-year-old wife, Margaret Hopkins. Marci Deshayna Cully was charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of her boyfriend, Wayne Francisco, early Christmas morning.

Adams also faced charges of theft and obstruction in Shawnee County in an unrelated case.

Other details

In addition to the murder charge in Douglas County, Adams faced charges of theft and obstruction in Shawnee County in an unrelated case.

Douglas County Chief Judge Robert Fairchild set bond in Adams’ case at $100,000.

Fairchild set bond in Rush’s case at $75,000, partly because Rush had a criminal record in Shawnee County, where he was convicted of criminal possession of a firearm in 2005 and attempted robbery in 2007.

Adams and Rush were scheduled to appear in court again on July 29.