Police Shootout Defendant Dies Tuesday Morning In Montco: Attorney

NORRISTOWN, PA — A 63-year-old Montgomery County man who was facing a slew of attempted murder charges after getting into a shootout with police officers this past spring has died, his public defender confirmed to Patch Tuesday.

James Patrick Lyons, with the Montgomery County Public Defender's Office, who was representing David Naumenko, of Upper Providence Township, told Patch in an interview that his client passed away around 4 a.m. Tuesday while under doctor care.

Lyons had earlier filed court papers seeking a compassionate care release for Naumenko, who discovered he was suffering from fast-moving terminal cancer.

Naumenko faced attempted murder on a police officer and other related charges in connection with an incident back on March 16 in which he shot at police after they responded to a report of a possible domestic disturbance at a condo complex in the Mont Clare section of Upper Providence.

Police were subsequently cleared by county prosecutors with shooting Naumenko during the episode. Naumenko survived the shooting but was shot by a Limerick Township Police officer who put a stop to the shootout on responding officers.

Related: Montco Officer Cleared In Shooting During Condo Shootout Incident

Court records in the case show that Naumenko was being held on $2 million bail.

Lyons said he initially sought to have his client released on compassionate grounds after finding out that the man was suffering from esophageal and liver cancer and was on strict palliative care. Naumenko sought to be released in order to enter end-of-life hospice care.

Naumenko's preliminary hearing had originally been scheduled for March 25, just over a week after his arrest, but that the proceeding was pushed back by Magisterial District Judge Richard Welsh a total of five times, with the latest scheduling order saying the hearing was supposed to take place in early October.

Lyons told Patch Tuesday that the hearing had been pushed back so many times in order to determine whether Naumenko was competent to stand trial in the case.

He said his client had no arrest history and his actions were completely out of character.

Lyons said Naumenko was taken for some tests in late July, at which time Einstein Hospital doctors discovered the fast-moving cancer metastasizing throughout his body.

"He never left the hospital again," Lyons said by phone. "It [the cancer] really progressed rapidly. His condition declined at an alarming rate."

Lyons initially sought to have Naumenko released from the hospital, where he was under guard, in order to attend hospice care, since a hospital is not equipped to handle hospice duties.

Naumenko required morphine every three hours, Lyons said, and officials with the Montgomery County Correctional Facility were not in a position where they could provide that treatment.

"Basically, he would have died an agonizing death," if he were sent to prison, Lyons said of his client.

Lyons said Naumenko was never actually at the county prison after his arrest; he was committed to Norristown State Hospital for psychiatric care immediately after his arrest, and doctors soon made the determination that he was unable to stand trial due to competency issues.

Lyons said it is his belief that "something organically" caused Naumenko to carry out the shooting on police officers.

Naumenko had no history of law enforcement contact, and shooting at cops was completely out of character for him, Lyons said.

When asked if the undiagnosed cancer could have possibly caused problems with Naumenko's brain, Lyons said it was entirely possible that that could have been the case, but that it would now never be known.

Lyons said his entire goal up until Tuesday's death was that Naumenko "did not die in prison."