Judge: Man not sane at time of fatal shooting
Glen Burnie resident enters guilty plea in 2019 slaying
The Glen Burnie man who gunned down a promising software engineer in the stairwell of their apartment building last year was insane at the time and will be turned over to the custody of the state health department, an Anne Arundel County judge ruled during a hearing Tuesday that frustrated prosecutors and the victim’s family.
In less than an hour, Circuit Judge Michael Wachs brought to a conclusion the court proceedings of the man responsible for fatally shooting 22-year-old Tyrique Hudson.
James Allan Verombeck, 54, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Tuesday and maintained that he was insane when he killed his neighbor. Wachs convicted Verombeck before determining that he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. Wachs committed Verombeck indefinitely to a state psychiatric facility.
Dozens of Hudson’s friends and family members traveled from North Carolina to pack the Annapolis courthouse, donning T-shirts and buttons with Hudson’s picture and the words “Justice for Tyrique.” They said the hearing provided few answers.
“It’s not the justice I was looking for,” said Tonya Burch, Hudson’s mother.
The seemingly random fatal shooting of Hudson on April 15, 2019, shocked the community, devastated his family and raised questions about how Verombeck, a
disgruntled maintenance worker, slipped through the cracks. Hudson died that morning in a dimly lit corridor of the Colonial Square Apartments, where he lived above Verombeck.
Verombeck fired a shotgun into Hudson’s chest and barricaded himself inside his second-floor apartment. After negotiation attempts failed, Anne Arundel County police had to blast through the walls of an adjacent apartment to reach Verombeck.
Verombeck was later indicted on charges of first-degree murder, first- and seconddegree assault, reckless endangerment and a host of firearms offenses. After his guilty plea for the murder, prosecutors dropped the remainder of the counts.
Six months after the indictment, Verombeck pleaded insanity. In Maryland, it’s up to the defendant and their attorneys to prove that at the time of the crime they, because of a mental disorder, could not understand what they did was wrong or could not stop themselves. The legal standard focuses on the moment in time.
Despite pleading not criminally responsible (Maryland’s version of the insanity defense), Verombeck maintained he was not guilty. Wachs ordered he be admitted to the Maryland Department of Health so doctors could evaluate his competency to stand trial — whether he could understand basic legal proceedings — and whether he was sane at the time of the alleged murder.
Dr. Adam Brown, a forensic psychiatrist with the health department, evaluated Verombeck. He reviewed medical records, evidence and interviewed collateral sources. In an approximately 115-page report, Brown said he thought Verombeck was competent but insane at the time of the murder. Prosecutors said Brown diagnosed Verombeck with schizoaffective disorder.
Deputy State’s Attorney Brian Marsh said that Brown believed that Verombeck could understand what he did was wrong, but couldn’t stop himself from doing it because of his delusions. Verombeck believed that Hudson was spying on him from his upstairs apartment and thought he heard Hudson’s footsteps following above, Marsh said.
Prosecutors intended to call Brown as a witness to explain the findings of his report — with no objections from Verombeck’s defense attorneys — but Wachs did not allow it, saying the report sufficed. He, defense attorneys and prosecutors described the report as among the most thorough they’d seen. It was enough for prosecutors not to challenge Verombeck’s insanity defense.
Hudson’s family was devastated not to learn more about how the doctor arrived at his conclusions.
Without the doctor’s testimony, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said, it was difficult to describe Verombeck’s condition. He held a job and paid rent. But in off hours, she said, “when he was home alone he was paranoid, he was psychotic, he was delusional and he imagined that [Hudson] was plotting against him.”
Wachs also denied a Baltimore Sun Media reporter’s request to review the report, which was introduced as an exhibit of evidence in open court. It was filed as a joint exhibit and neither the judge, the prosecutors or the defense attorneys asked for the record to be placed under seal. Wachs said it was confidential in nature, declining to allow the press or public to see it. The judge could not be reached for comment. In court, he offered condolences to the family.
“I wish there were words that I could share with Ms. Burch and the family and friends of Tyrique Hudson to make this any easier but I know that there are not. … He was bright and full of light and beautiful,” Wachs said.
Burch watched as Verombeck clearly answered questions from Wachs before entering his plea. How could that same man have been insane for the murder of her son, she wondered.
“I wanted him to get life in prison. … I just feel like he’s not mental,” Burch said after court.