When Asia Adams, a 21-year-old university student, was brutally killed in her home in November 2004, residents of Germantown, Maryland, were shocked beyond belief.
‘Homicide City: Germantown Tragedy,’ a show on Investigation Discovery, delves into the terrible details of her death. Let’s learn more about the infamous case and how her killers were brought to justice.
Who Was Asia Adams And How Did She Die?
Asia Adams attended West Chester University in Chester County, Pennsylvania as a college student.
She was enrolled at WCU at the time of her death but had recently been accepted into Howard University’s nursing programme. Shelah, Asia’s mother, stated that her purpose was to make a difference.
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Asia was regarded as a person that is extremely warm and compassionate. Asia was also quite gregarious and amusing.
Asia was quite close to her mother and visited her over the weekend. Shelah had no idea it would be the final time she would see her daughter.
On November 8, 2004, a neighbour of Shelah and Asia overheard an odd noise. She heard the door slam shut and recognised Shelah as being on a business trip and that no one should be inside.
The neighbour stepped outside to investigate and noticed smoke rising from Shelah’s home’s second level. She made a 911 call.
A terrible scene met the firefighters and police officers as they arrived on the site.
A woman’s body was discovered in one of the second-floor bedrooms. It was not only terribly burned but also bare from the waist down.
They discovered that the deceased had died from multiple stab wounds, a throat laceration, and wounds on the neck and head after further examination.
As a result, the fire was set on purpose to hide the killer’s tracks. Asia, who was slain on the night of November 7, 2004, was identified after Shelah returned.
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Who Were The Killers Of Asia Adams?
As the police started their investigation, they discovered Asia’s purse on the ground floor, which was missing cash and credit cards. Shelah also noted that the cards had been used to make many cash withdrawals from various ATMs.
Because the cameras were not working, the cops were unable to locate any surveillance. Shelah’s involvement was also ruled out altogether.
When Asia’s friend, Alexis Bethea Lopes, came forward and told them about a man named Napoleon, who the killed student was dating at the time of her death, the police got a critical lead.
She’d met him on the street, and they’d been dating for a few months since August 2004. As the police began their search for Napoleon, Alexis sent them in the direction of Simeon Bozic, a close friend of the suspect.
Simeon had a criminal past, including a suspended driver’s licence and theft charges, the police learned after conducting a background check.
When Simeon was not discovered at his mother’s house, the cops went to investigate April Strode, and Napoleon’s claimed ex-wife. She then revealed that his real name was Thomas Strode, and that they had only been married for a year.
Thomas, too, had previously been accused with burglary and narcotics possession, according to further inquiry.
Simeon called the cops a few days later and acknowledged that he and Thomas had murdered Asia. They were at Asia’s residence on the night of the murder, according to the former, when she abruptly asked them to leave after an altercation.
Thomas smacked her in the head with a vase while she was trying to lock the house and set the alarm. He then began stabbing her in the chest, and he and Simeon pulled her down the basement when she became unconscious.
Asia’s clothes were pulled off, and she was placed on a chair in the basement at this time.
Simeon claimed that Thomas beat the girl in the face with a shovel after she regained consciousness and ordered him to do the same.
After that, Thomas “threatened” him to slit Asia’s throat, and they repeatedly harmed her. When she died, the pair took $500, credit cards, and keys from her purse and fled.
The next morning, they returned, covered her in a quilt, and brought her to the front bedroom on the second floor. They lit the home on fire after lying her in the bed to hide their tracks.
Thomas and Simeon were detained and questioned all night on November 15, 2004. Both of them eventually confessed to being involved in Asia’s killing and were charged with first-degree murder, robbery, arson, weapons charges, and related offences the next day.
In his confession, Thomas also revealed that they killed Asia because of a disagreement with her over him and Simeon.
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What Happened to Thomas Strode and Simeon Bozic?
Simeon Bozic was found guilty of all of the above counts in November 2007 but was offered a plea deal to testify against Thomas Strode in exchange for escaping the death penalty.
Thomas was also found guilty and agreed to waive his right to appeal in return for not facing the death penalty. When questioned if he had any sorrow, he said he had “shown his remorse to God in his cell block three years ago.”
Simeon, on the other hand, attempted to contest the legality of his prison term in a plea to the court in October 2017. This, however, was shot down.
Both Thomas and Simeon are currently serving life terms without the possibility of release, with the former serving his sentence at SCI Dallas and the latter at SCI Greene in Pennsylvania.
Where as Asia Adams Save Our Children Foundation was founded by Shelah Harper. It is a programme designed to increase public awareness of child abuse.