News and Investigations

Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Orlando woman after they determined that she had intentionally poisoned a man, possibly on several occasions. 

39-year-old Samantha Adams was arrested Thursday, August 27, 2026, at the Posner Park shopping center in Davenport, after she agreed to meet the victim there. When she arrived in the parking lot, detectives moved in quickly to box-in her vehicle and take the suspect into custody.

According to the arrest affidavit, Adams intentionally mixed Benzodiazepine into the victim's drink while at his home in Haines City. The victim alleged that she may have poisoned him on at least three other occasions at her residence in Orange County. 

PCSO detectives began their investigation on August 20, 2026, after the 69-year-old victim reported an unexpected medical incident. 

The victim said he was admitted to a hospital on August 17th and he felt there were suspicious circumstances that led up to his medical problem.

The victim first met the suspect through a dating app, and he only knew her as Nala. Detectives were eventually able to determine her identity as Samantha Adams. 

According to the victim, he had gotten into an argument with Adams about a vehicle he had purchased for her. After the argument, Adams went to the kitchen while carrying her purse. She returned to the victim with two glasses of whiskey. He drank from one of the glasses and then things progressed romantically. The victim said that the intimacy escalated, but Adams suddenly stopped it and said he would need to pay her $1,000 to continue. The victim refused, and Adams left. 

Later in the evening, the victim passed out and he was taken to the hospital. Medical staff determined he had suffered a Benzodiazepine overdose, but the victim said he does not have any Benzodiazepine.

The detectives also learned that someone had tampered with the victim’s home security system. The victim said that he saw Adams in the part of his house where the security system is located.

The victim also told detectives that he had had other suspicious incidents after drinking a shot with Adams at her Orlando residence this month. He said he became unsteady and fell at her home after having a drink there, and then another incident when he was leaving her residence, he passed out in his vehicle. He also reported an incident that occurred on August 15th, in which he left Adams’ residence and backed into a vehicle while feeling groggy. According to the victim, during each occasion he only had a small amount to drink.

When Adams was taken into custody on August 27th, she was in possession of a prescription bottle (prescribed to someone else) containing 19 pills of Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen, 2.5 pills of oxycodone hydrochloride, 9 pills of Sertraline, 1 partial pill of Adderall, and 1 partial pill of Alprazolam/Xanax. 

"It is possible that there could be more people out there who have been victimized by Samantha Adams. Her motivation is money, and as we have seen with this case, she is willing to go to great lengths to get money-- including murder." - Grady Judd, Sheriff

Samantha Adams was charged with 2nd Degree Attempted Murder (F2), Tampering with Evidence (F3), Possession of Oxycodone (F3), Possession of Hydrocodone (F3), Possession of Alprazolam (F3), Resisting without Violence (M1), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (M1), Possession of New Legend Drug without Prescription (M2), and Offering to Commit Prostitution (M2).