Judge Rejects Insanity Defense, Finds Harford Mass Shooter Radee Prince Criminally Responsible
BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) — Jurors did not buy Radee Prince's argument that he suffered from such severe mental health issues at the time he shot his five coworkers that he should not be held criminally responsible.
A judge rejected Prince's insanity defense Monday morning for the 2017 mass shooting that left two of his coworkers injured and three of them dead.
Now, Prince is facing five life prison sentences without parole plus 25 more years behind bars for weapons charges for a mass shooting in Edgewood in 2017. Prince will be sentenced at a later date.
"My heart goes out to the families and the survivors and victims in this case. This is their first step toward closure," said Harford County State's Attorney Albert Peisinger, Jr.
Harford Co State's attorney on verdict finding Radee Prince criminally responsible in 2017 mass shooting @wjz pic.twitter.com/wtBE7ckJRs
— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) November 2, 2020
"We can't bring those lives back. All we can do is advocate for our victims and our survivors," Peisinger told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
Prince was found guilty of murder for the deadly 2017 shooting at a granite business in Edgewood. His attorneys claimed he was not legally responsible because he was mentally ill at the time.
In the courtroom Monday, Prince showed no emotion as jurors read the verdict.
Prince worked at Advanced Granite Solutions in Edgewood. In October 2017, he went to work with a gun, gathered his co-workers together and shot five of them in the head.
Bayarsaikhan Tudev, Jose Romero and Enis Mrvoljak died in the Harford County massacre. Jose Guillen and Enoc Sosa survived but suffered severe injuries.
He argued he was bullied, but the prosecution said there was no evidence of that. The defense also argued Prince suffered from depression and a brain injury after a 2014 assault and could not understand what he did was wrong.
Later the same day as the Edgewood shooting, Prince drove to Delaware and shot an acquaintance. He is currently serving a 40-year sentence for that crime.
"We were very disappointed to see it go to Delaware first," Peisinger said.
He said Prince will serve his Delaware sentence before any time he ultimately gets in Maryland.
Prince could appeal Monday's verdict, but that decision has not yet been made.
On the insanity defense, Peisinger said "I will say [Prince] is responsible. His defense is up to him and his team."
Jurors deliberated the insanity plea for almost ten hours over two days.
"If another individual decides to make another bad choice and this happens in Harford County again, the same result will happen: We will work tirelessly to put that person behind bars for as long as we can," the state's attorney said.
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