Judge Continues Scheduling Hearing for Defendant in 2019 Stabbing Death of Wife

By Racquel Bazos - September 5, 2023
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Suspects | Victims |

Despite being scheduled to begin his client’s retrial on Sept. 5, the defense attorney for a man accused of killing his wife on Jan. 11, 2019, requested a postponement to better prepare for a potential trial date in January 2024.

Public defender Brandon Thornton told Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa M. Phinn that right after he was assigned Amit Kumar’s case, he had to go on leave for three months, so he could not begin today’s retrial. 

The assistant state’s attorney assigned to the case requested a new trial date for Jan. 22, 2024, but since the calendar for the new year is not yet open to schedule criminal cases, Judge Phinn continued the hearing. The parties will return to reception court on Oct. 11 for scheduling.

Kumar, 44, was found guilty of use of a deadly weapon with the intent to injure on Nov. 18, 2019, but following an appeal is now being tried again for the first-degree murder of his wife, Ankita Verma, in their home on the 6700 block of Holabird Avenue.

According to a document from the Appellate Court of Maryland, a medical examiner identified seven stab wounds to Verma’s body, as well as several cutting wounds. After fleeing the state, Kumar turned himself in to authorities in Syracuse, New York, where he gave police an interview claiming that his wife had a history of self-harm and was drunk on the night of the incident. He said her wounds were self-inflicted and that she was dead by the time he left the apartment.