Police: Man 'threatened' by rap music fatally stabbed 17-year-old

PEORIA, Ariz. - A man recently released from prison was arrested in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy found face down by fuel pumps at a metro Phoenix convenience store.

Peoria police arrested 27-year-old Michael Adams on suspicion of first-degree murder and said the killing early Thursday was apparently unprovoked.

Police said Adams indicated that he felt threatened by rap music being played on the radio of the vehicle of the victim, whose identified wasn’t released.

Police also said Adams had a pocket knife and blood on several parts of his body when spotted walking near the crime scene.

Adams' lawyer says he suffers from a mental illness and had been released from jail without medication.

"They released him to the streets with no medication, no meds, with no way to care for himself," lawyer Jacie Cotterell said during a court appearance. "This is a failing of the Department of Corrections. This is easily foreseeable and that is an issue."

Cotterell said Adams does not belong in jail.

"It's too easy as a society to shake our head and say well, they committed a crime, it's too bad, we have jails for that when really, what they need is treatment. They need a bed instead of a cell," said Cotterell.

Adams is now back in jail with a cash bond of $1 million.

Court records show Adams has been arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon twice previously. Adams also allegedly threatened to throw a cobblestone brick at the face of a Tempe employee who asked him to get up from the curb. While in jail, Adams allegedly assaulted a correctional officer, serving a 13-month prison sentence before being released.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.