Advanced Granite shooter to serve five life sentences

Enoc Sosa remembers Oct. 18, 2017, as the most tragic day of his life, one that affects him to this day. That day, Sosa and four others who worked at Advanced Granite Solutions in Edgewood were shot by co-worker Radee Labeeb Prince.

Prince, 41, was sentenced Friday in Harford County Circuit Court to serve five life sentences for the shooting, which claimed three lives and injured two others, including Sosa.

Sosa was struck in the head with a bullet, which left him with scars, brain damage, cognitive issues and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his victim impact statement, which prosecutors read at Friday’s hearing. The shooting has changed him — even his kids notice the difference.

“They can tell I am not the same dad as before,” said Harford County Assistant State’s Attorney Angela Diehl, reading from Sosa’s statement.

Prince killed Bayarsaikhan Tudev, 53, of Virginia; Jose Hidalgo Romero, 34, of Aberdeen; and Enis Mrvoljak, 48, of Dundalk. Jose Roberto Flores Guillen of Edgewood and Sosa, of North East, were injured in the attack.

On Friday, Harford County Judge Yolanda Curtin sentenced Prince to serve three life sentences without parole, the maximum sentence in Maryland, for three counts of first-degree murder. The two additional life sentences were handed down in relation to two attempted first-degree murder charges for the shooting victims who survived. The life sentences are to be served consecutively.

Curtin also handed down 20- and 15-year sentences for two firearms violations related to the workplace mass shooting, to be served concurrently.

A Harford County jury found Prince guilty of the charges on Oct. 28, but because Prince pleaded not criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of the insanity defense — the jury then needed to determine whether he could appreciate the criminality of his actions or if he could not conform his behavior to the law at the time of the offense because of mental illness. The jury found him criminally responsible a few days later, on Nov. 2.

At sentencing Friday, the defense brought forward friends, family members and a mitigation specialist who said Prince was mentally ill and raised to not seek help or consider treatment. His brother, Leondrei Prince apologized to all the families who were affected by the shooting, but said that his brother needed help.

“It is hard being a Black man and dealing with mental health issues,” he said.

Victim impact statements were largely delivered by prosecutors Friday. Diehl relayed a statement from one of the survivors, Guillen, which stated he did not wish to be present for the sentencing because he is still angry and trying to understand why Prince shot up the workplace.

Diehl said Guillen had requested the judge give Prince the maximum sentence possible.

A family friend of Mrvoljak’s wife translated an impact statement for her and read it in court Friday. She said that Mrvoljak was always smiling, and the two had fled war in Bosnia to come to the U.S., seeking safety and a new life. She said she would not want anyone to experience what she has.

“We were ready to adjust to life in our new country,” she relayed. “Our dream did not come true.”

Friday’s sentencing hearing, like the trial that preceded it, was heated. Prince alleged that Judge Curtin was biased and that the criminal justice system in Harford County as rigged. Curtin listened to Prince’s lengthy statement for many minutes before stopping him.

Curtin said that he was not helping himself, but he continued reading even as she called a temporary recess. When court reconvened, Curtin said that the crime was unconscionable and that the sentence was for the protection of the community.

“This court finds the defendant is beyond any rehabilitative measures,” Curtin said.

Before Prince begins serving his sentences in Maryland, he must first finish a 40-year sentence in Delaware on an attempted-manslaughter charge there. Prince was found guilty in Delaware for shooting Rashan “Jason” Baul in the face after leaving the Advanced Granite shooting and driving to Wilmington to confront him.

After the sentencing hearing Friday, Deputy District Public Defender John Janowich said that his agency would pursue “any and all post-trial remedies” for Prince.

“It was challenging from beginning to end, and we are not done yet,” he said.