Police are searching for a man suspected of fatally shooting a Maryland judge who had granted his wife custody of the suspect’s children on the day of the killing, authorities said Friday (local time).
The judge was shot dead in his driveway on Thursday evening (local time) while his wife and son were at home, just hours after ruling against the suspect in a divorce case, authorities said.
Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said authorities were “actively working” to arrest 49-year-old Pedro Argote for the “targeted attack” on Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson.
Wilkinson, 52, was found with gunshot wounds outside his home in Hagerstown around 8 p.m. (local time) on Thursday, authorities said. Wilkinson was taken to Meritus Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.
Albert told a news conference Friday that Argote was considered “armed and dangerous.” Albert declined to identify the type of weapon used in the killing but said Argote legally owned a handgun.
In recent years, judges across the United States have been the target of threats and sometimes violence. President Joe Biden signed a bill last year that would provide 24-hour security protection to the families of Supreme Court justices after a draft court opinion was leaked that overturned the abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade was overturned, leading to protests outside the conservative U.S. Houses of Supreme Court justices.
Wilkinson had presided over a divorce case involving Argote on Thursday, but Argote was not present at the hearing, Albert said. At the hearing, the judge gave custody of Argote’s children to his wife, and that was the motive for the killing, the sheriff said.
Wilkinson entered a judgment Thursday formally approving the divorce and granting her mother sole custody of the couple’s four children, ages 12, 11, 5 and 3, court records show. He ordered Argote to have no contact with the children and to pay US$1,120 (NZ$1,923) a month in child support.
Court records show a messy legal battle that began when Argote filed for divorce last year.
In his first statement of claim, Argote accused his wife of neglecting her homeschooling duties and failing to properly supervise the children. However, she filed a countersuit accusing Argote of “cruel treatment” and saying she could not support herself financially.
Days later, his wife filed for a protection order, saying he was harassing her via text messages, controlling her every move, threatening to abuse their daughter and making false accusations against her.
“I do not leave the house without his knowledge,” she wrote in court documents. “I know he always has his gun with him.”
A judge issued a temporary protective order – which included an order for Argote to turn in his firearms – but it was lifted weeks later at the woman’s request, court records show.
Argote repeatedly suggested that they continue to live in the same house while they sort out their digital advertising business and become more financially stable.
Wilkinson wrote in a March 2023 statement that Argote’s proposal was “frankly a failure.”
“The testimony leaves this court with an uncomfortable feeling that Father exercises absolute control over Mother, her finances and her life,” Wilkinson wrote. “This is not in the best interests of the children.”
Argote was ordered to leave his family home that same day.
Messages left seeking comment on cell phone numbers listed for Argote were not immediately returned.
Argote had no criminal record in Washington County, but officers had responded to the home “twice in the last few years for verbal domestic assault,” Albert said.
Lawyers in the divorce case did not immediately respond to emails and calls seeking comment. However, the lawyer representing the children had words of praise for the late lawyer.
“Judge Wilkinson was a great man, father, husband and judge, and I am blessed to have known and worked with him,” attorney Ashley Wilburn wrote in an email. “He is a hero.”
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