The teenage son of an NFL player who was pulled from his dying mother's womb after she was murdered by a hitman hired by his athlete father is celebrating his 18th birthday.

Chancellor Lee Adams is the son of ex Carolina Panthers star Rae Carruth and Cherica Adams.

He was born 10 weeks prematurely via an emergency C-section after his mother was gunned down in a drive-by shooting orchestrated by Carruth because he did not want to pay child support in November 1999.

Adams died a month after the shooting and Carruth has been in jail for her murder since 2000. Adams survived.

The teenager suffers cerebral palsy and brain damage as a result of his traumatic, premature birth.

Chancellor Lee Adams (above with his maternal grandmother Saundra Adams) turned 18 on November 16. He is the disabled son of Rae Carruth and Cherica Adams who was born 10 weeks prematurely in 1999 after his mother was shot four times by a hit man

He has been raised by his maternal grandmother Saundra Adams. On November 16, Chancellor celebrated his milestone birthday with a party at a pumpkin patch in Charlotte, North Carolina.

His father has another year in jail before he will be released.

On November 16, 1999, Adams, who was 29 weeks pregnant, was driving in her own car after going to see a movie with Carruth who was in a separate vehicle in front of her.

A separate car containing three other men pulled up near her and inside was William Watkins who fired four shots at the pregnant woman from the backseat.

During their trial, Williams told how Carruth ordered the killing and watched in his rear view mirror as Adams 'drowned' on her own blood.

She was able to call 911 herself and was taken to hospital where her son was removed from her womb the night of the shooting.

In her 911 call, she told the operator: 'I was following my baby’s daddy, Rae Carruth, the football player. He slowed down and a car pulled up beside me.

'He just left. I think he did it. I don’t know what to think.'

A month later, she died. Chancellor remained under doctors' care at the time but was later released to live with his grandmother.

He can walk, talk and is able to feed himself.

Astonishingly, his grandmother has forgiven Carruth and his co-conspirators and plans to take Chancellor to meet him when he is released from prison next year.

'We've talked about it a lot,' she told The Charlotte Observer this week.

Chancellor's mother Cherica Adams (left in the early stages of her pregnancy) was killed when she was eight-months-pregnant. She was shot four times by a gunman who had been hired by Carruth (right during his 2000 trial) because he did not want to pay child support. The pair were not a couple at the time

Chancellor was born 10 weeks early via an emergency C-section the night his mother was shot. She died several weeks later and he remained in the hospital under the care of neonatal doctors for weeks

Carruth (left in his mugshot) orchestrated the killing. Cherica was a 24-year-old realtor when she fell pregnant with the Panthers' star's baby

Carruth was earning $40,000 per game when he played for the Panthers (above in 1997) but he did not want to pay child support

The pair have met once before. In 2000, before he was convicted, Chancellor's grandmother took him to the jail where Carruth was being held to introduce him to his father.

She claims that once the former athlete realized the media was not allowed to film or photograph the meeting, he lost interest.

Despite earning $40,000-a-game for the Panthers, Carruth did not want to see his son born so that he would not be bound to pay child support.

He and Cherica, an estate agent, had been lovers but were not in a long-term relationship at the time.

On November 16, the pair went in separate cars to watch The Bone Collector at a movie theater in Charlotte.

Afterwards, Cherica got back in her car and followed Carruth in his. Suddenly, he stopped and another vehicle pulled up alongside her.

Video courtesy of WSOCTV

Chancellor suffers brain damage and cerebral palsy but is a happy teenager

The 18-year-old has been raised by his grandmother and still wants to have a relationship with his father

She was shot several times and was taken to hospital. There, doctors removed Chancellor and placed him in the neo-natal unit.

The next day, Cherica slipped into a coma. Before her death, doctors placed her son in a blanket on her chest for five minutes.

They later turned off the life support that was keeping her alive.

Carruth has always denied being involved in the killing. He fled after her death and was found 500 miles away hiding in the trunk of his car.

In 2000, he was jailed for 18 years for masterminding her killing. Watkins was sentenced to 40 years for pulling the trigger.

The other two men involved - Michael Kennedy and Stanley Abraham - have both served their sentences and been released.

Carruth has tried to appeal his conviction from jail but has been unsuccessful. He is now 43.

