Alana Devone Sims, 22, was found shot to death on the evening of January 30, 2023, in the Easton Park subdivision of New Tampa. Her body lay near her Ford EcoSport SUV while her 18-month-old son slept in a car seat inside the vehicle; Alana was five months pregnant and suffered fatal gunshot wounds to the head. A passerby discovered her around 10:00 p.m.; the child was unharmed and is now with family.

Police identified 25-year-old Billy Bennett Adams III, a local rapper known as Ace NH, as the primary suspect. Investigators say Adams had been acquitted three days earlier, on January 27, 2023, of separate double murder charges from a 2020 recording studio shooting. Authorities allege Alana believed she was going to a party to celebrate that acquittal but was lured to the location and shot. Adams was arrested on February 8, 2023, and charged with first-degree murder and killing of an unborn child by injury to the mother. He gave conflicting statements, later claiming self-defense, but police cite surveillance, texts and other evidence — including a message the day before reading tomorrow this s— done — as inconsistent with that claim and indicative of possible premeditation. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.

Alana’s family remember her as a loving, devoted mother who cherished her son and was excited about the pregnancy. Did anyone in the area see Alana or her SUV in New Tampa that night, or have information about her movements beforehand?