Verona woman sues Fox Chapel man charged in her son’s killing
The mother of a Verona man found dead on a Fox Chapel hillside sued the man charged in her son’s killing.
T. Lee Rouse, the mother of Christian Moore-Rouse, filed a civil lawsuit against 23-year-old Adam Rosenberg in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging he is responsible for wrongful death in the killing of her son.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, says Christian Moore-Rouse met Mr. Rosenberg at CCAC and cultivated a friendship with him. In December 2019, Mr. Rosenburg invited the 22-year-old to his Fox Chapel home and shot him, Ms. Rouse claims.
Lawyers and the family of Moore-Rouse have said he was invited to the house to smoke marijuana.
Mr. Rosenberg placed his body in a wooded area across the street from his home, where his skeletal remains were not found until March.
Ms. Rouse’s suit, filed by attorney Mark Homyak, says Mr. Rosenberg’s failure to take his prescribed psychiatric medication gave him “a desire to murder those emotionally close to him.”
“Defendant knew that if he failed and/or refused to undergo the recommended medical treatment he was likely to become a danger to others but, nevertheless, he negligently failed and/or refused to participate in appropriate treatment of his symptoms.”
Mr. Rosenberg “and his family are making the proper arrangements to address this civil matter,” his attorney, Casey White, said. He declined to comment further.
In documents from when he was charged with Moore-Rouse’s death, police wrote an unnamed person tipped them off Mr. Rosenberg may have disposed of a corpse in the woods near his house after he was heard making “wild claims” about “catching a body.”
He had previously made claims about wanting to kill his parents and had asked Moore-Rouse to get involved, the alleged victims’ friends told the Post-Gazette last year, and police have said Mr. Rosenberg had bipolar disorder.
Mr. Rosenberg is scheduled for a criminal trial on Jan. 19. He is facing charges of homicide, robbery, abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence.
He has also been charged with killing Jeremy Dentel, a 28-year-old who was living in Baldwin Borough after the two met on a dating app.