22-Year-Old Black Software Engineer Murdered in Baltimore , USA

A 22-year-old Baltimore resident was gunned down by his 53-year-old white neighbor just months after trying to obtain a protective order against the man.

According to ABC 11, Tyrique Hudson was fatally shot in the stairwell of his apartment complex while he was leaving for work on April 15.

After neighbors heard the gunfire, they looked outside and saw James Verombeck standing over the victim’s body.

Hudson just moved to the area to start a job as a software engineer at Northrop Grumman. Before that, Hudson completed a five-year early college program in only four years while in high school and then earned a computer science degree at North Carolina A&T University in under three years.

His mother said the 22-year-old was headed for great success.

"He's never had any confrontations or any fights," Hudson's mother, Tonya Burch, told ABC 11. "Nobody has ever has to come say, 'Oh your son did this to me or your son did that to me.' He was just overall a very gifted, unique child."

After the shooting, Verombeck locked himself inside his apartment for 10 hours until a SWAT team broke down the door and detained him, reported the Capital Gazette.

Verombeck, who faces charges of first-degree murder, reportedly suffers from schizophrenia, officials revealed during a preliminary hearing.

Earlier this year, Hudson went to court to obtain a protective order against the suspect. During one interaction on February 16, Hudson was confronted by Verombeck while he was taking out trash.

Verombeck allegedly told him "you knew this day was coming," while making a throat-cutting "death gesture" Burch told ABC 11.

"He was getting his mind set to move because he was fearful," said Burch.

When Hudson attempted to get a court order barring Verombeck from making physical or verbal contact, District Court Judge Devy Patterson Russell denied the motion, citing a lack of evidence.

Judge Russell has since been temporarily reassigned pending a verdict from the Court of Appeals, which is considering suspending the judge for her behavior in Baltimore courts, the Capital Gazette notes.

https://www.bet.com/news/national/2019/04/26/black-22-year-old-software-engineer-murdered-by-white-neighbor-m.html