A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Man accused of killing girlfriend in Ewing previously convicted of manslaughter, assault »
EWING » Before being charged with first-degree murder, Ewing man Aaron Adams went to a nearby liquor store, called 9-1-1 and indicated “dead people” were haunting his township home.
Then Adams’ mom, the owner of the Glen Stewart Drive residence, later arrived at the dwelling and found the naked corpse of 32-year-old Ashley Davis in the basement, slain by a BB gunshot wound to the chest June 1.
Police, who temporarily placed Adams into crisis after finding him at HK Liquors, later learned Adams and Davis were boyfriend and girlfriend and that Adams owned the three BB guns that were found in close proximity to Davis’s body, according to statements made in court Wednesday.
With circumstantial evidence stacked against him and Adams having a long history of violence — including prior convictions for manslaughter and for assaulting another woman inside his proverbial man cave last year — Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Bingham II on Wednesday ordered the township man to remain jailed without bail on pretrial detention pending final resolution of the murder case.
Adams, 38, has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and certain persons not to possess a weapon due to a prior conviction in the slaying of Davis, a resident from Levittown, Pennsylvania, who became Ewing’s first homicide victim of 2020.
Davis suffered a BB gunshot wound to the chest, with the metal pellet striking internal organs and causing massive internal bleeding, killing her, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said, citing an autopsy report.
Adams previously served a six-year prison sentence for admitting he fatally stabbed Ulysses Adams III, 21, of Sicklerville, during a fight at an Atlantic City party held in July 2006.
The current murder charge is a result of an investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Ewing Police Department.
A defense attorney for Adams unsuccessfully argued Wednesday for her client to be released from jail, saying, “He is not a flight risk or danger to the community and therefore should be released pending resolution of this case.”
Assistant Prosecutor Heather Hadley argued that Adams is a violent offender currently on probation for his 2019 domestic violence attack on another woman, alleging Adams murdered Davis in the same basement bedroom man cave where Adams “restrained another woman” approximately 11 months ago. “The defendant should be detained pending trial,” she said.
Virtual court
Wednesday’s remote detention hearing, conducted via online-video technology, revealed new details about the defendant’s background.
The judge recited a litany of facts in the case, detailing Adams’ mile-long rap sheet and the circumstances of what happened before police found a dead body in the basement.
Adams called 9-1-1 from a liquor store and reported that “dead people” were at his township home and that “people were trying to kill him,” Bingham said in court Wednesday, reciting the prosecution’s narrative.
“He had knowledge of someone deceased in his home,” Bingham said of Adams. “He didn’t reveal who it was.”
Police found Adams at the liquor store and brought him into crisis. Meanwhile, the defendant’s mother arrived at the Glen Stewart Drive residence and found the homicide victim’s naked body in the basement, Bingham said.
Authorities learned Adams and Davis were in a “dating relationship” by speaking to the defendant’s father, Bingham said.
Authorities also learned that Adams and Davis were both gathered at the house June 1 in the basement, which also served as Adams’ bedroom, Bingham said, citing a statement the mother had provided to police.
The mother said she received multiple phone calls from her troubled son between May 31 and June 1. She described him as being in a “manic state” and said he previously had been in crisis as a patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder, according to statements Bingham read in court.
The homeowner also said the BB guns in the house all belonged to her son, Bingham said before ordering Adams to pretrial detention. “The weight of the evidence against the defendant is relatively strong.”
Adams has a right to appeal Bingham’s decision.
The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office is expected to present the homicide case to a grand jury in the near future in pursuit of an indictment.