Man sentenced to prison for killing Middletown mother found on balcony

A Middletown man has admitted guilt and been sentenced to prison for the February 2023 death of a woman found fatally wounded on the balcony of a Middletown apartment.

Dustin Scott Lykins, 28, was indicted by a Butler County grand jury in June for murder and felonious assault with gun specifications in the death of Amber Adams on Feb. 11, 2023, at a Flemming Road residence.

Lykins pleaded guilty to a negotiated plea of involuntary manslaughter with a three-year gun specification in Butler County Common Pleas Court. Judge Michael Oster Jr. sentenced Lykines to 13 to 18 years in prison.

Adams, 25, was the mother of an 8-year-old boy, according to family members.

Lykins was taken into custody in Madison Twp. on June 21 by federal marshals from the Cincinnati office of the U.S. Marshal Service (SOFAST), according to prosecutors.

The death remained under investigation for months by Middletown police until an out -of-state material witness was compelled in May to appear before a grand jury, according to court records.

Adams was found on the front balcony of an upstairs apartment suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. She was taken to Atrium Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Lykins was charged with a drug offense on the day the investigation into Adams’ shooting continued.

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