Man accused of killing ice cream truck driver found not criminally responsible

BALTIMORE, MD (WBFF) — A Baltimore man was found not criminally responsible in the 2024 killing of his roommate, a longtime ice cream truck driver, after the former Roland Park resident pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and a weapons offense.

Patrick McEvoy Cromwell, 60, was committed to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center after entering the plea last Wednesday, according to his attorney and a Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson.

A defendant can be found not criminally responsible — Maryland’s version of the insanity defense — if a judge or jury determines that they did not understand their actions were illegal or could not conform to the law because of a mental disorder or developmental disability.

Cromwell was arrested in 2024 after Baltimore Police said he admitted to killing his roommate, identified as 77-year-old Joseph Barranco. Charging documents say that Cromwell told detectives that his roommate, who was unarmed, attacked him and he fought back with a meat cleaver before strangling his roommate.

Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun.