UPDATE: Columbia Police identify MU student whose body was found in fire pit

20-year-old Emma Rose Adams remains jailed without bond in Boone County (January 2023 mug shot courtesy of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department website)

A Columbia woman charged with killing an autistic Mizzou student before dragging his body through a yard and setting it on fire remains jailed without bond.

939 the Eagle News was in Boone County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon for 20-year-old Emma Adams’ hearing. She wore a jail jumpsuit, did not speak and displayed no emotion. She and defense attorney Jeffery Hilbrenner waived the bond hearing.

Columbia Police have identified the victim as 21-year-old Samuel Michael Clemons, formerly of Jefferson City. Numerous members of Clemons’ family were in the courtroom for Tuesday’s hearing.

Court documents quote Adams as telling MUPD officers that she killed the victim in self-defense after being beaten.

The Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement says Adams never called 911, and that Adams “attempted to destroy physical evidence by burning the victim’s body.