Delma Devon "Jimmy" Adams grew up in Johnston County, graduating from Meadow High School in 1964. He joined the Raleigh Police Department in October of 1967, soon after he turned 21. 

On February 3, 1980, Officer Adams received a call about a drunk driver in the area of South Wilmington Street and a description of the vehicle. Soon Officer Adams spotted the suspected vehicle and arrested Cassie Scott Johnson for drunk driving. After Officer Adams placed her in the backseat of his patrol car, Ms. Johnson asked for her purse. Officer Adams got out of the patrol car to retrieve the purse from her truck and to assist her passengers in finding a ride home. When he returned to the patrol car, Officer Adams was shot in the head by Cassie Johnson; she had been hiding a pistol in the waistband of her pants. Ms. Johnson is serving her prison term.  

Officer Adams was survived by his wife, Sandra, and their two sons, Phillip and Marcus, as well as his mother, three brothers, and two sisters.