Columbia woman charged with gruesome murder of Mizzou student to be arraigned

An arraignment is set for Tuesday afternoon for a Columbia woman charged with murdering an autistic Mizzou student before dragging his body through a yard and setting it on fire.

Boone County prosecutors have charged 20-year-old Emma Rose Adams with second degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and two other felonies. Columbia Police have identified the victim in this case as 21-year-old Samuel Michael Clemons, formerly of Jefferson City.

939 the Eagle News was in the courtroom in January for Adams’ initial court appearance. She appeared on video and wore a jail jumpsuit. She did not speak and displayed no emotion that day.

Court documents quote Adams as telling MUPD officers that she killed Clemons in self-defense after being beaten. CPD’s probable cause statement says Adams never called 911, and that Adams “attempted to destroy physical evidence by burning the victim’s body.”