North Liberty man, already serving over 100 years for sexual assault, faces another 25 years

IOWA CITY — A North Liberty man, already serving 150 years in prison for sexual assaults and robbery in Eastern Iowa counties, now faces up to 25 years in Linn County for kidnapping, robbery and the attempted sexual assault of a woman.

Asante Walker-Garcia Adams, 28, pleaded guilty in Linn County District Court Thursday to five charges: second-degree robbery and third-degree kidnapping, both class C felonies; assault with intent to commit sex abuse and first-degree harassment, both aggravated misdemeanors; and false imprisonment, a serious misdemeanor.

Walker-Garcia Adams, during the plea to the felonies, admitted to having intent to commit a theft and assault and to confining or removing the woman during the crime.

According to a criminal complaint, a woman was outside her apartment on May 3, 2023 in Center Point and as she leaned into her car from the passenger side to put something in the center console, a man, later identified as Walker-Garcia Adams, approached her from behind.

He put his hands around her neck and forced her face into the car’s seat, telling her if she resisted him he would kill her, the complaint stated.

Walker-Garcia Adams then pulled the woman’s shirt over her head and eyes, and moved her behind the apartment building. He told her to take him into her apartment so he could rob her, according to the complaint. He then moved her back to her car and attempted to remove her pants.

The man then tried to start her vehicle but she was able to escape to a neighbor’s apartment.

Police later identified the attacker as Walker-Garcia Adams from fingerprints left on the window of the car. He also matched a description provided by the woman.

Sixth Judicial District Judge David Cox, during the plea hearing, ran all five charges consecutively for a total of 25 years. He then ran the Linn County convictions concurrently to sentences from Black Hawk and Johnson counties, in accordance with the plea agreement.

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Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker said Walker-Garcia Adams must serve a mandatory minimum of 17 years for the two felonies in the Linn County case before being eligible for parole.

A warrant was issued for arrest in the Linn County case in 2023, but Walker-Garcia Adams couldn’t come into the county’s custody until the Black Hawk case was resolved.

Walker-Garcia Adams has assaulted other women in Iowa

In a Black Hawk County trial in 2024, Walker-Garcia Adams was convicted of two sexual assaults. According to testimony, he held a knife to a woman’s neck and sexually assaulted her in March 2023 near Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. The next month, he burglarized an apartment near the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and sexually assaulted a woman who lived there.

In Johnson County, Walker-Garcia Adams pleaded to second-degree sexual abuse, first-degree burglary and second-degree robbery and was sentenced up to 50 years in prison. According to court documents, he broke into a woman’s house in Iowa City on Sept. 6, 2022, punched her, threatened to kill her with a knife and sexually assaulted her.

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, a criminal complaint stated.

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, a search warrant affidavit stated.

When the woman was interviewed a second time, she identified the suspect from a Ring doorbell camera in the area, which police circulated to request help from the public. Iowa City investigators couldn’t identify a suspect until the Black Hawk County incidents happened in 2023.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com