A 35-year-old Washington, D.C., man was convicted Wednesday for fatally stabbing Amontae Cunningham, 29, of Rockville after a verbal altercation on a Metro bus in Wheaton, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said on Monday morning.
On April 5, 2023, Cunningham boarded a Metro bus in Wheaton heading toward the Wheaton Metro station, and Tyrone Curtis got on later, sitting close to Cunningham, according to charging documents.
A verbal altercation erupted between the two men, with Curtis holding a knife at his side, and the bus driver tried to intervene, charging documents said. Charging documents did not indicate what caused the altercation.
The bus continued its route and stopped at a county parking garage near the Wheaton Metro station where Cunningham and then Curtis exited the bus, according to charging documents. Curtis then approached Cunningham and stabbed him once in the upper torso, causing him to collapse onto the sidewalk, according to charging documents.
Montgomery County Police responded to the scene at 11304 Amherst Ave. around 12:25 p.m. for the stabbing, charging documents stated.
Curtis was identified as the suspect through bus surveillance footage and confirmed he was at the scene at the time of the homicide, charging documents said. He was arrested for the crime on April 14 and has been held without bond.
He was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in a trial presided over by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Jeannie Cho, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
Curtis was represented by public defenders, and the Maryland Office of the Public Defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This was a verbal altercation between strangers that the defendant senselessly escalated,” Attorney John McCarthy said in a press release. “There was zero justification for the use of a deadly weapon, and he will pay the consequences.”
McCarthy also said he expressed his condolences to Cunningham’s family.
Curtis’ sentencing is scheduled for April 5, according to digital court records, and he could face life in prison.