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Family's grief pours out after man is sentenced in IHOP murder

A Durham man pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges in the 2011 shooting death of a woman at an IHOP restaurant.

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DURHAM, N.C. — The family of 46-year-old Delia Allen got their day in court Monday, in victims' impact statements at the sentencing of the man who shot and killed her.

A Durham man pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges in the 2011 shooting death of a woman at an IHOP restaurant.

Jerry Lee Adams, 27, of 200 Seven Oaks Road, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a law enforcement officer and discharging a weapon into occupied property for the shots he fired into an IHOP in October 2011.

Allen died and two others were injured when Adams opened fire.

"The woman you took away was nothing short of an angel," Allen's niece Alfreda Wormley said.

"I'm not standing here trying to make you feel bad. I'm letting you know the person you took off this Earth, not just what she meant to me, to the rest of the family, but to Durham County and the rest of North Carolina."

Prosecutor Josephine Davis called Allen a loving person who was a "staple" of the Durham community.

Wormley offered Adams a bit of advice to consider as he serves his 24- to 31-year sentence.

"She would say take this time to better your life. She would say take this time to right some of the wrongs you made," Wormley said of her aunt.

Allen was eating breakfast, one of dozens of patrons at the North Pointe Drive IHOP on Oct. 8, 2011, when off-duty police officers asked Adams to leave. He did, but returned to open fire.

"I hate it took this long for us to get here, but I thank God it did because it allowed my heart to mend a little," Wormley said.

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