'Forgot to do what I was supposed to': Judge's error ends in overturned murder conviction

A man who was sentenced for fatally stabbing his mother at their Miami Township home, and later charging at police with a kitchen knife , has had his convictions and sentence overturned because of a judge's error.

Joshua Amburgy, 41, returned to Clermont County Common Pleas Court from prison on Friday. He had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and felonious assault and was sentenced to a minimum of 41 years to life.

However, Ohio's 12th District Court of Appeals found in October that Judge Victor Haddad failed to advise Amburgy of his constitutional rights during his plea hearing last year.

The three-judge appeals court panel voided Amburgy's guilty plea as a result and sent the case back to Haddad's courtroom.

"I'm making excuses, but this is why I forgot to do what I was supposed to do because I let you get me off track. Don't get me off track anymore," Haddad said of Amburgy numerous outbursts that resulted in the judge threatening to have him muzzled during Friday's hearing.

"I should at least deserve a chance," Amburgy said in court. "I'm not a menace to society."

Angela Glaser, an attorney recently appointed to represent Amburgy, declined to comment on the case Friday as she had yet to meet with her client.

What happened to Melissa Amburgy?

When Miami Township police arrived at 58-year-old Melissa Amburgy's home on Valencia Drive on Nov. 1, 2022, officers found her suffering from multiple stab wounds in the basement , prosecutors said in court filings.

Ted Amburgy, her husband and Joshua Amburgy's father, told police that he and his wife were hanging wall art when Joshua Amburgy tried several times to get his mother to meet him upstairs.

When Melissa Amburgy refused, prosecutors said, her son came downstairs and stabbed her seven times using a knife from his parents' kitchen.

Ted Amburgy witnessed the stabbing and intervened by hitting his son with a chair.

"I've been in combat; I've been all over the world, but I've never seen somebody's eyes like that," he said during his son's sentencing. "I could see in his eyes the devil had taken over."

Joshua Amburgy then fled the home, knife still in hand, but was confronted by police a short time later in the backyard of a residence on Geneva Court.

Prosecutors said police were forced to shoot Amburgy in the leg after he failed to comply with multiple commands to drop the weapon, instead charging at them.

Body camera footage of the incident shows there were roughly 12 seconds between the time officers first spoke to Amburgy and shots being fired.

Police recovered the knife Amburgy used to stab his mother, as well as a larger, butcher-style knife from his pocket. Meanwhile, Melissa Amburgy had been flown by helicopter to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where she later died.

In an interview with investigators, Joshua Amburgy said he had been angry with his mother prior to stabbing her and that he probably still would've attacked her if she came upstairs as he requested, court records state.

He has consistently suggested that Melissa Amburgy was out to get him, according to prosecutors.

In planning to kill his mother, prosecutors said, Amburgy tried for a month to obtain a gun before giving up and buying a large kitchen knife from a local dollar store, though that knife ultimately wasn't used.

Amburgy to be held without bond pending trial

Amburgy's attorneys said they'll likely seek to have his competency evaluated. Court records show his competency had previously been called into question but was ultimately found suitable for trial.

Haddad ordered that Amburgy be incarcerated without bond pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Amburgy is being held at the Clermont County Jail, records show. He is expected to appear in court again on Wednesday.