Mother of man killed in Fox Chapel wants psychiatric report of alleged killer

The mother of a man shot to death in 2019 in Fox Chapel filed a motion this week seeking the psychiatric report completed on the alleged killer.

Adam Rosenberg, 23, is charged with two separate counts of criminal homicide in the death of Christian Moore-Rouse, 22, who was killed on Dec. 21, 2019, as well as in the Feb. 15, 2020, shooting death of Jeremy Dentel, 28, of Baldwin.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office has offered Rosenberg the chance to plead guilty but mentally ill to two counts of first-degree murder for both cases. In exchange, Rosenberg would be sentenced to concurrent sentences of life without parole.

Rosenberg is scheduled for a hearing in both cases on April 20.

He has been in custody since February 2020. Rosenberg was initially deemed legally incompetent to stand trial and was transferred to Torrance State Hospital for mental health treatment.

He was returned to Allegheny County Jail months later after his competency was restored.

Last July, T. Lee Rouse, Moore-Rouse’s mother, filed a lawsuit against Rosenberg alleging wrongful death and severe emotional distress. Then, in December, she filed another complaint against Rosenberg’s parents and their marriage counselor accusing them of covering up evidence of the crime.

On Wednesday, Rouse’s attorney, Mark Homyak, filed a motion to compel the release of the forensic psychiatric report completed on Rosenberg at the request of his criminal defense attorneys.

In the motion, Rouse argues that she’s entitled to the report both as a member of the public and under the state Crime Victims Act, since she is the mother of a homicide victim.

Rouse, the motion said, “is not only a member of the public entitled to the constitutionally guaranteed and common law presumption that criminal proceedings are to be open and publicly accessible, but also has a strong personal interest in being kept apprised of significant developments in the criminal prosecution of the individual charged with causing her son’s death, including the existence and content of defendant’s forensic psychiatric reports upon which the prosecution may rely in agreeing to a plea bargained resolution of the charges.”

Under the Crime Victims Act, the motion said, Rouse has the right to submit comment to the DA’s office on any potential reduction or dropping of charges.

She claims she cannot adequately consider the potential plea agreement without viewing the report.

While the motion notes that Rouse has been in contact with Assistant District Attorney Alex Cashman as he handles Rosenberg’s prosecution, it says that she was not notified that the defense was seeking a protective order that would prohibit Cashman from sharing the psychiatric report.

Under the order, the prosecution is not permitted to share the report with anyone other than the commonwealth’s expert, employees of the DA’s office and Allegheny County Police.

The motion for the protective order, which was granted by Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer on Feb. 4, does not include any explanation for its necessity.

“The motion states no reason why the report should be kept confidential; it simply requests that it be done, and notes consent of Mr. Cashman to granting of the motion,” Rouse’s motion said.

Mike Manko, a spokesman for the DA’s office, said his office is preparing a written response.

Casey White, Rosenberg’s defense attorney, said he is confident Beemer will make an “objective, fair and right decision.

“These are protected mental health records that should not be made for public consumption.”