A prosecutor told jurors today that a 10-year-old Oakland boy who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by a bullet while taking a piano lesson is the person who was harmed the most in an alleged crime spree by defendant Jared Adams.
In her closing argument in Adams' trial in Alameda County Superior Court, prosecutor Nancy O'Malley said, "The one who's paying the biggest price is Christopher Rodriguez."
O'Malley said, "He's the one who paid the price for the defendant's conduct and decisions that day."
She was referring to shots that Adams, 26, allegedly fired while robbing a gas station at 4400 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland on Jan. 10, 2008.
According to O'Malley, one of the shots traveled across the street, went through a wall and struck Rodriguez, who was 10 at the time, while he was taking a piano lesson at the Harmony Road Music School.
The prosecutor said Rodriguez, who is now 11, "was a happy, smart and popular boy who loved playing basketball but now can't feel anything below his waist and is unable to walk and has to get used to using a wheelchair."
Adams is charged with 12 felony counts, including carjacking former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata's red Dodge Charger at the intersection of 51st Street and Shattuck Avenue on Dec. 29, 2007.
The charges against Adams include attempted murder, assault with a firearm, robbery, carjacking, auto theft, evading a police officer and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm.
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Adams' lawyer, Brendon Woods, will give his closing argument later today.
