CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A man who had spent two decades in prison for firing the shots in a plot by then-Carolina Panthers player Rae Carruth to kill Carruth's pregnant girlfriend has died.
Van Brett Watkins died on Dec. 3 at age 63, according to online prisoner records from the state Department of Adult Correction. Watkins, who had been at Central Prison in Raleigh, died at a hospital from natural causes, department spokesperson Keith Acree said.
Watkins, whose death was first reported by Charlotte television stations, received more than 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to his role in Carruth's effort to kill Cherica Adams in 1999.