Columbia mall deadly shooting suspect violated court order several times, court records show
Emmetson Zeah was on pre-trial home detention with an ankle monitor before he allegedly shot and killed a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old in a double shooting outside The Mall in Columbia on Feb. 22, according to court records.
Zeah was found in violation of his pre-trial release on Feb. 21, a day prior to the murder of Wilde Lake High sophomore Michael Robertson. Oakland Mills freshman Blake McCray died on Thursday, Feb. 27, from injuries related to the shooting.
According to a letter sent by Advantage Sentencing Alternative Program (ASAP, Inc.), Zeah violated his court order several times. The letter said he should have been at his home, but instead, he was found on school grounds, at other people's homes, the mall, and businesses.
The director of the agency notified the courts just one day before the shooting near the mall.
WJZ reached out to ASAP, Inc. and the Howard County Department of Corrections about how pre-trial suspects are monitored and why the courts and law enforcement weren't alerted to these home detention violations sooner. Both agencies have not replied to the request for comment.
Ankle monitor tracking
Zeah was given pre-trial home detention with an ankle monitor in December for an alleged attempted murder and home invasion in November.
The ankle monitor linked Zeah's location to the mall the day of the shooting, and it also tracked him to a shooting on Feb. 14 in another Columbia neighborhood.
The third-party electronic monitoring firm says Zeah was tracked to parking lots, other homes, walking around his neighborhood, and to schools between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20. He also failed to submit verification of his location.
According to its website, ASAP, Inc. says it meets with clients biweekly to discuss approved outings and verification. Maryland law only requires these meetings once a month.
Howard County teen with ankle monitor arrested
This isn't the first time a teen under electronic monitoring committed a violent crime in Howard County within the past year.
In October, a 17-year-old was arrested and charged with murder after a 26-year-old was found shot to death in a car near a Columbia business park. He was arrested at Howard High School with an ankle monitor for a previous incident in another jurisdiction.
He was under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Services and wore an ankle monitor.