Judges order evaluation for North Liberty man charged in sex assault cases

Judges in two Eastern Iowa counties have suspended court proceedings against a North Liberty man, charged with multiple counts of sexual assault, burglary and robbery in Iowa City, Waterloo and Cedar Falls, until he undergoes a competency evaluation.

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First Judicial District Judge David Odekirk last month found probable cause that Asante Ajee Walker-Garcia Adams, 25, was suffering from a mental disorder that may prevent him from understanding the charges against him and assisting in his defense at trial.

If Walker-Garcia Adams is found incompetent by the Iowa Medical and Classification Psychiatric Hospital in Coralville, then restoration treatment will follow and he will be evaluated for competency again.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Justin Lightfoot also found Walker-Garcia Adams’ competency may be an issue and ordered him Monday to undergo an evaluation at the psychiatric hospital in the Johnson County case. Lightfoot also set a competency hearing to review the basic results of the evaluation Dec. 5.

However, Theresa Clemmons, the mental health director at the state psychiatric hospital in Coralville, wrote LIghtfoot Wednesday, asking him to modify his order because the hospital no longer conducts inpatient competency evaluation services. The waiting list, she wrote, is seven months long, “which is unprecedented and a result of an increase in all types of services” being requested from the hospital.

Clemmons, in the letter, said by Iowa law the hospital must provide restoration services but not competency evaluations for those accused of crimes. The hospital decided to prioritize bed space for restoration patients and will only provide competency evaluations on an outpatient basis.

Competency evaluations can be conducted through telehealth appointments for those in jail; the wait time is two months, she wrote. Or in-person evaluations can be done on an outpatient basis for those who aren’t in jail. Those evaluations take about two hours, and the waitlist is three months.

The letter also included a list of independent evaluators who Clemmons said could provide the court with quicker services than the hospital. The private evaluators include ones in Iowa City, Des Moines, Fort Madison, Rock Island, Ill., and two from New York and Utah who are both licensed in Iowa.

Iowa City assault

Adams is accused of breaking into a woman’s house in the 600 block of South Lucas Street in Iowa City on Sept. 6, 2022, punching her, threatening to kill her with a knife and sexually assaulting her, according to a criminal complaint and search warrant affidavit.

The woman described the suspect as having something on top of his head and wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a mask, bigger than a surgical mask, and sneakers, according to court documents.

A forensic analysis showed phone activity consistent with the woman’s account and results from a sexual assault exam provided a partial DNA profile of a suspect but not enough to identify a suspect in CODIS, the national DNA database, the warrant affidavit stated.

When the woman was interviewed a second time she believed the suspect from a Ring doorbell camera in the area, which police circulated to request help from the public, was the same man who assaulted her.

Iowa City investigators couldn’t identify a suspect until the Black Hawk County incidents happened this year.

Waterloo assault

A Waterloo woman told police she was in bed and woke up with an unknown man on top of her on March 10, according to a criminal complaint.

She told police the man held a knife to her 5-year-old son’s throat and threatened to cut him if she yelled for help. The suspect then put a pillowcase over her head and sexually assaulted her.

During the investigation, police obtained DNA from the knife and was able to match it to Walker-Garcia Adams, the complaint stated.

Cedar Falls assault

On April 10, a Cedar Falls woman told police she was lying on her bed, listening to a podcast and had fallen asleep when she awoke when something “wrapped tight” was around her neck and something was covering her face, according to a warrant affidavit.

The man in her bedroom, she said, threatened to kill her with a knife. The man forced her face down on the bed and sexually assaulted her more than once, she said.

The woman identified her attacker as a Black man and said she could feel, during the assault, that he had longer hair, possibly in dreadlocks. Police used surveillance cameras to identify a suspect matching the women’s description.

The investigators in Iowa City and Waterloo contacted Cedar Falls police as they sought the suspect.

Center Point attempt

On May 3, Linn County sheriff’s deputies contacted the Cedar Falls and Waterloo investigators about an attempted sexual assault in Center Point by a Black man who had dreadlocks, according to court documents.

Linn County was able to obtain latent prints in the case, which matched prints of Walker-Garcia Adams, a warrant affidavit stated. Cedar Fall authorities checked a jail booking photo of him and identified him as matching the suspect in that case.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks previously said Walker-Garcia Adams will be charged with third-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, assault with intent to commit sexual abuse and false imprisonment in the Center Point case. Those charges have not yet been filed.

Walker-Garcia Adams remains in jail pending trial for two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, first-degree burglary and second-degree robbery in Johnson County, and two counts each of first-degree burglary and second-degree sexual abuse in Black Hawk County.

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