A Jefferson Parish judge has sentenced Arsenio Adams to life plus 50 years in prison, for his conviction of killing a man and wounding two others and a pet dog during a shooting in an East Jefferson residence. 

Adams, 37, of New Orleans, was convicted by a jury on July 16 of second-degree murder, two counts of attempted second degree murder and simple cruelty to an animal in connection with the May 14, 2019, shooting in the 2800 block of Clermont Street, in the Shrewsbury neighborhood. 

It was just after midnight when Adams, a drug dealer armed with a 7.62-mm assault-style rifle, went to the apartment to collect money he said was owed to him. His argument with a 57-year-old man over money caught the attention of Sterling Woods and his 55-year-old girlfriend, who resided at the apartment and were in their bedroom. 

As they emerged to investigate the argument, Adams opened fire with a 7.62 mm assault-style rifle. Woods, who fired a 9mm pistol once during the incident, was shot in his abdomen, back, a leg and an arm and died later at a hospital. He was 62. 

The surviving woman was shot in a shoulder, and the surviving man was wounded in an arm. Woods’ 2-year-old mixed breed dog, Sweet Pea, was shot in its right hind leg. The dog fled after being shot but returned to the scene after Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived. Animal control officers transported Sweet Pea to an animal hospital for treatment. 

One of the bullets pierced a wall and entered a neighboring apartment, narrowly missing an 85-year-old Navy veteran who resided there. 

Detectives identified Adams as the shooter and obtained an arrest warrant. A U.S. Marshals fugitive task force tracked Adams to Douglasville, Ga., where they arrested him two weeks after the crimes. 

“Arsenio Adams was on a mission for one thing that night: To collect on his drug debt,” Assistant District Attorney Taylor Somerville told jurors in closing argument on July 16. “When they didn’t have it, he lit the house up like a Christmas tree, shooting Mr. Woods eight times. 

“He doesn’t care about the lives he took,” Assistant DA Somerville said. “He doesn’t care about the damage he has caused these families. All he cared about was getting his money and not getting caught.” 

Jurors found Adams guilty of the murder and attempted murders, of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, obstruction of justice and simple cruelty to animals. Jurors acquitted Adams of aggravated criminal damage to property, for the bullet that entered the neighbor’s apartment. 

During the sentencing hearing on Aug. 20, Woods’ daughter and sister provided victim-impact statements. “He was not perfect,” his daughter said. “But he did not deserve to be killed and shot eight times. A loving father, brother, uncle and grandfather. We truly miss him.” 

Woods’ sister described him as “our rock, always laughing and clowning with everyone. And always willing to help. Young man gone too soon.”  

Judge Donnie Rowan of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced Adams to: 

• Life in prison without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence for murdering Woods; 

• 50 years in prison for the attempted murder of the 55-year-old woman; 

• 50 years in prison for the attempted murder of the 57-year-old man; 

• 20 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm (he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of previous narcotics-related convictions in Jefferson Parish); 

• 20 years in prison for obstruction of justice, and; 

• Six months in the parish jail for injuring Sweet Pea. 

Judge Rowan ran the 50-year sentence for shooting the 57-year-old man consecutive to the life sentence. He ran the remaining sentences current to each other. 

Adams separately pleaded guilty on Aug. 20 to three charges involving his smuggling suboxone into the Jefferson Parish Correction Center in Gretna, where he was held while awaiting the murder trial. Judge Rowan sentenced Woods to two years in prison. 

Two of Adams’ co-conspirators also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Adams to smuggle the narcotic into the parish jail. Christopher M. Thomas, 33, who was a corrections officer at the jail, and Tonisha Poole, 38, were sentenced to two years in prison in October 2024. 

Adams also pleaded guilty on Aug. 20 to aggravated obstruction of a highway and received an 18-month sentence. That incident occurred in 2014. 

Assistant District Attorneys Taylor Somerville and Erich Cathey prosecuted the case.