Rae Carruth, who plotted his pregnant girlfriend's murder, is getting out of prison . . . and wants custody of the child

Hey, he said he's sorry. What more do you want from the guy? His son is 18, and there wouldn't even be a question of custody if not for the fact that the boy suffers from cerebral palsy, because he was born prematurely, because his mother was murdered while still carrying him, because Rae Carruth paid someone to gun her down.

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Details, though. Now Rae wants to be a good dad:

Rae Carruth, who last played for the Carolina Panthers, was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of hiring two men to carry out the murder of Cherica Adams, according to ESPN. Adams, who was pregnant at the time with his son, was shot four times and died. Carruth and Adams’ son, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born prematurely due to the shooting and suffers from cerebral palsy due to the shooting. Carruth, who said he found God, wrote in a letter addressed to the mother of the victim, Saundra Adams, saying that he accepted responsibility for the murder and expressed interest in gaining custody of his son, according to WBTV in Charlotte. “I'm apologizing for the loss of her daughter. I'm apologizing for the impairment of my son," Carruth said. “I feel responsible for everything that happened. And I just want her to know that truly I am sorry for everything.” Saundra Adams, the grandmother, has raised his 18-year-old son, told the Charlotte Observer on Monday that Carruth would never have custody of his son. “Chancellor will be raised either by me or, after I'm gone, by someone else who loves him and who knows him. He will never be raised by a stranger -- someone he doesn't know and who tried to kill him,” she told the newspaper.

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Carruth tried to kill him, for crying out loud. He didn't want to be a father then. He doesn't get to be one now

Let's deal with Carruth's claim that he has "found God," which is how the Fox News writer described it and may or may not be exactly what Carruth has said on the matter. I don't know if that means he has really repented of his sin and submitted himself to the authority of Jesus Christ, or if it just means he's "found God" in a nebulous sense of acknowledging there's a higher power and he wants to be a better person. There's a big difference. One comes with power and the other does not. But even if Carruth truly has surrendered his life to Christ, that absolutely does not entitle him to custody of Chancellor. When you give your life to Christ you are forgiven the eternal consequences of your sin. You still deal with the earthly consequences. And you can be saved by the grace of Christ but still deal with the same issues you dealt with before. Deliverance is not the same thing as salvation, and it usually takes a lifetime for people to even make a dent in the demonic impulses that drove them to sin in the first place, since having the Holy Spirit and understanding how to wield its power are two very different things. If Carruth has served his time, then he has every opportunity to make the most of what's left of his life. I hope he does. But his son's existing family and the courts would be guilty of criminal negligence if they allowed the boy any exposure to Carruth and what he's capable of. Carruth tried to kill him, for crying out loud. He didn't want to be a father then. He doesn't get to be one now.

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