PITTSBURGH – A Verona woman whose son was murdered by a Pittsburgh-area man, a one-time college classmate previously diagnosed with severe psychiatric illness and violent impulses, is seeking a default judgment in her wrongful death lawsuit connected to those events.
Lee T. Rouse of Verona first filed suit in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on July 14 versus Adam Rosenberg of Fox Chapel (and now residing in Pittsburgh).
Plaintiff Rouse acts as the Executrix of the Estate of the decedent, her late son Christian Moore-Rouse, also known as Christian C. Moore-Rouse.
“Christian Moore-Rouse was 22 years old when he was killed. Christian had previously attended the Community College of Allegheny County, where he met defendant, a fellow student who cultivated a friendship with Christian,” the suit said.
“On Dec. 21, 2019, defendant invited Christian to his Fox Chapel residence and intentionally shot Christian, killing him, while they were on the premises.”
The suit explained Rosenberg had been diagnosed with severe psychiatric illness resulting in prolonged inpatient and outpatient treatment – and despite the advice of physicians to take medication to control his symptoms, which included a desire to murder those emotionally close to him – Rosenberg allegedly failed to do so, leading those symptoms to worsen and eventually murder Moore-Rouse.
“After defendant killed Christian, defendant pulled Christian’s pants down to his ankles, and otherwise intentionally and/or wantonly disturbed, mishandled and/or defiled Christian’s corpse. Defendant then moved Christian’s dead body from his residence’s grounds to a wooded area, across the street from defendant’s residence, and left it there,” according to the lawsuit.
“As a result, Christian’s body was not found until police investigating his disappearance found the body’s skeletal remains while searching for it on March 3, 2020. As a result, plaintiff experienced the natural fear and severe emotional distress a mother emotionally close to her young adult son would experience between Dec. 21, 2019 and the time the police informed her of their discovery of Christian’s remains.”
UPDATE
On Nov. 5, counsel for the plaintiff filed a praecipe for entry of default judgment in their client’s favor, due to the defendant not having filed an answer or other form of opposition to the suit.
“Please enter judgment in favor of plaintiff T. Lee Rouse, Executrix of the Estate of Christian Moore-Rouse, also known as Christian C. Moore-Rouse, deceased, and against defendant, on liability only, with damages to be assessed at trial, for defendant’s failure to file within the required time a pleading to a complaint which contained a notice to defend, pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1037(b),” the praecipe read.
“Pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 237.1(a)(2)(ii), I certify that written notice of intention to file the praecipe was mailed to that defendant after the failure to plead to the complaint and at least 10 days prior to the date of the filing of this praecipe. A copy of the notice sent to that defendant is attached, per Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 237.1(a)(3).”
For counts of survival, wrongful death and unlawful removal of a deceased body causing emotional distress, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of the arbitration limits of the jurisdiction.
The plaintiff is represented by Mark J. Homyak of Homyak Law Firm, in Pittsburgh.
The defendant is represented by Lynn E. Bell of Davis McFarland & Carroll, also in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-21-007929
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com