Emmetson Zeah came before Howard County District Court Judge Wayne Brooks on Dec. 16. He was charged with attempted murder, assault, home invasion and burglary after police said he and a friend went to a former classmate’s home two weeks earlier — one day before Zeah’s 18th birthday — and tried to stab the person with a knife.

“Today, I am not here to determine whether or not you are guilty, but whether or not you are or should be deemed a danger to society,” Brooks said to Zeah during the hearing, which had been set to gauge whether Zeah should remain in custody while awaiting trial.

The teen had already had at least five interactions with authorities while he was a juvenile, and he now faced serious charges involving violence. Yet Brooks ruled that Zeah should be released under home detention.

While on release, Howard County Police now say, Zeah left his home multiple times, fatally shot two people and wounded another in separate incidents near The Mall in Columbia. The second fatality was announced Saturday by police.

A Howard County Police spokeswoman said last week that “the county does not have a role in home detention or monitoring people on home detention.”

Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees serves as president of the Maryland Sheriff’s Association, a member organization that advocates for law enforcement’s interests in the state. DeWees said in Carroll County, ankle monitoring and home detention are only available for those charged with non-violent offenses, such as driving under the influence or drug offenses.

“I simply think it’s ridiculous to think that an 18-year-old that has a track record of being violent is going to be compliant under a community monitoring system,” DeWees said.

‘Not a bad person’

Audio of the hearing before Judge Brooks, obtained by The Baltimore Sun from Howard County District Court, sheds some light on how a teenager accused of attempted murder ended up on home confinement, despite his juvenile record and the seriousness of the charges he faced.

Margaret Nyorkor, Zeah’s mother, spoke on his behalf at the hearing in December. She said she came to the U.S. as an immigrant to live “the American dream” and to give her children a chance to live it, too. She assured the court that her son was not a danger.

“My son, he is not a bad person, and he is not a person that is going to hurt anybody,” Nyorkor said.

She declined to speak with The Sun when reached Friday.

According to the police report provided to the court in December, the person Zeah is accused of attempting to stab had obtained a video of Zeah being assaulted in March of that year and posted it to Instagram, where Zeah’s friend and co-defendant, Myles Storey, saw it and “became enraged.”

Police wrote that “Myles considered killing the victim and potentially others multiple times and challenged Emmetson to see who could kill more people the fastest.”

Less than a week after that discussion, on Nov. 28, police allege Zeah and Storey went to the victim’s home, wearing all-black and masks, and tried to slash and stab at him with knives. The victim managed to escape unhurt by closing the door on them, according to police.

On Nov. 29, Zeah turned 18. He was arrested in December, according to court records, and charged as an adult.

‘A threat to … others’

At the hearing to determine whether he would be detained, Howard County Assistant State’s Attorney Anup Patel asked forZeah be confined to a juvenile facility while awaiting trial.

“Your honor, if he is released, he is a threat to … others,” Patel said.

Henry Barnes, Zeah’s attorney at the time, asked the judge for less-restrictive measures, including home confinement, to allow Zeah to finish school and even go to college, according to the court audio.

He noted that Zeah, who had previously been in trouble with the law, had attended all of his juvenile court hearings faithfully and completed all of his requirements.

“My client … categorically denies attempting to murder anybody or even being involved in this manner,” Barnes said. He added that Zeah could face harm or retaliation if placed at a juvenile facility, and urged the court to place Zeah under home detention.

Barnes told the court he had already set up home detention monitoring with state-licensed monitoring company Advantage Sentencing Alternative Programs Inc., and he asked the judge to sign off on it.

The Sun was unable to reach Barnes for comment. A phone number associated with his law practice was disconnected, and he did not respond to multiple emails.

‘Bullied by other kids’

Zeah’s mother assured the court that her son was “respectful and intelligent” and posed no threat to anyone.

“He’s going to be no harm to the community,” Nyorkor said. “My son has been bullied by other kids and has been badly hurt by other kids.”

She added that she had five children at home, including her son, and that he came from “a good home.” She said she hoped her son would complete his education and go to college like his older sister.

“I suffer a lot to come to the United States,” Nyorkor said. “I came to live a better life … with my children.

“This is not what I want. I want a good life, a good future,” she said.

Zeah did not speak other than to acknowledge the charges against him and the conditions set upon him by the court.

Patel, the assistant state’s attorney, pushed back against assertions that Zeah posed no threat, noting that the 18-year-old had already run into trouble with the law while living at home with his mother.

Those incidents involved offenses including second-degree assault, robbery and misdemeanor theft. Zeah also had open cases for conspiracy to commit a felony, as well as a misdemeanor charge, at the time of his arrest in the stabbing case.

“The supervision may not be as stringent [at home] as it would be at a juvenile facility,” Patel told the judge.

But Brooks was swayed by the mother and defense attorney. He set bail at $50,000 and told Zeah not to have contact with victims, defendants or witnesses while on home detention.

“You are to be released on the following conditions: You are to attend school, court proceedings, medical appointments and work, if currently employed,” Brooks told Zeah. He did not elaborate on his reasoning at the hearing, nor respond to questions sent last week from The Sun.

‘Disgusted’ home detention permitted

Brooks was appointed to his current role as an administrative district judge in May 2024. He previously served as an associate judge on the Howard County District Court, appointed there in 2014 by Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat.

Before that, Brooks served as an administrative law judge, an executive administrative law judge, and a deputy director of operations for the Office of Administrative Hearings from 1995 to 2014. Prior to that, he was an assistant public defender and a special assistant U.S. Prosecutor for the U.S. Magistrate Court while serving in the U.S. Army.

Harford County Del. Lauren Arikan, a Republican member of the state House Judiciary Committee, in an interview called Brooks ‘an activist judge.’

“I am disgusted that a judge in Maryland would permit home detention in this case,” Arikan said of the stabbing case that preceded Zeah’s latest charges. “These appalling and dangerous rulings … have led to yet another mother burying her child,” Arikan said.

State Sen. Will Smith, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, did not respond to requests for comment on Brooks’ decision to award home detention to a teen charged with attempted murder.

‘Held accountable immediately’

When a bond hearing is scheduled, it is up to the court to decide two things: if the defendant will appear for future court dates, and if they are a threat to others around them.

If the court is confident the defendant will both appear when ordered and will not cause harm to society, they can grant home detention through a private, pretrial monitoring system, such as the company that agreed to monitor Zeah’s whereabouts on behalf of the court.

Programs like those at ASAP, the moniker by which Advantage Sentencing Alternative Programs, Inc. goes, require the defendant pay for monitoring services.

In return, these companies provide technology and equipment. Should a defendant violate their home confinement orders, the company is required to, within 24 hours, notify the court, which can then revoke the defendant’s bond or bail status and imprison them.

Police say Zeah left his home on multiple occasions while on home detention starting Feb. 13, and shot three young people in two incidents during that time, killing two. ASAP filed a letter with the judge a week after the first shooting, and one day before the second shooting.

ASAP declined to answer questions from The Sun about why it waited so long to alert authorities, or if it had made them aware in some other manner than the letter. Howard County Police said they have no record of being notified of Zeah’s out of home excursions.

“At the end of the day, home detention and community corrections only works when individuals that violate the privilege to be in such a system are held accountable immediately,” Sheriff DeWees said. “When an individual violates the privilege, the full force of whatever agency that is responsible for them should come after them and put them in jail where they belong.

“It’s clear that the state system is a joke to the offenders,” DeWees added.

Kate Cimini is the investigative editor for The Baltimore Sun. Contact her at 443-842-2621 or at kcimini@baltsun.com. Contact Glynis Kazanjian, gkazanjian@baltsun.com, 301-674-7135, or @glyniskazanjian.