Woman accused of killing MU student to stay in Department of Mental Health care, pending June 17 hearing

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman who was accused of murder in the death of a University of Missouri student in January 2023 will remain in the care of the Department of Mental Health until at least her next hearing, court records show.

Emma Adams, 22, was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandoning a corpse. 

Court records on Casenet state that an order for continued commitment was filed on Thursday, along with a forensic evaluation reported dated Tuesday, June 4. A hearing on the DMH motion is set for 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 17 at the Boone County Courthouse.

Adams was committed to the DMH in November, but had been awaiting an evaluation as recent as May.

She is still listed in on the Boone County Jail roster and has been held on a $1 million bond since her arrest.

Adams was arrested and charged in January 2023 after an investigation that started at the University of Missouri led to police finding a burned body in a residential area far from campus.

Police initially couldn't identify the body because of its condition. Samuel Clemons was eventually identified. He was 21.

The investigation started when University of Missouri police officers were sent to Hudson Hall at about 5:30 p.m. Jan. 11, 2023, for a welfare check, which led them to the 2400 block of Bentley Court in north Columbia. Officers found the body there and called Columbia police for a homicide investigation, according to a Columbia Police Department social media post.

Adams allegedly told police she stabbed Clemons in self-defense.