JACKSON CO./SPRINGFIELD, Ill.—The Illinois Appellate Prosecutor Office’s Special Prosecution Unit (SPU) has been named to the case of the death of Molly Young.
Mike Carr
Jackson County State’s Attorney Mike Carr formally filed a request for an entry of appearance by a special prosecutor in the case on August 22, 2013, nearly a year and a half after the death of the 21-year-old. Young was found deceased on the bedroom floor of her former boyfriend, Richie Minton, in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 24, 2012. A coroner’s jury earlier this year ruled the death “undetermined” after being presented with a VERY slanted batch of information in an attempt to get them to rule it “suicide.” That it was not ruled “homicide” wasn’t necessarily detrimental to the case; the jury advised that they ruled undetermined because they hadn’t been provided with enough information to make such a decision.
We spoke with Patrick Delfino this morning at the appellate prosecutor’s office in Springfield. He stated that they are reviewing the information received and can make no comment at this time.
Richie Minton
The SPU provides prosecutors when the duly-elected county state’s attorney offers to recuse himself because of a perceived conflict, an overwhelming case, or another issue which would take the duly-elected prosecutor out of the picture. Illinois is blessed to have such pitbull prosecutors on the SPU as Ed Parkinson, Lorinda Lamken, Chuck Zalar and Mike Vujovich working on the downstate cases. Their expertise is above par and performance above reproach. The assignment of one of these prosecutors would be a godsend to the case, which has languished since the crime scene was reportedly spoiled after Minton was not only allowed to wash his hands after the incident, but changed clothes and was never taken in for any questioning whatsoever (done mainly because he lawyered up immediately). Recent developments in the case show that Carbondale police did NOT thoroughly canvass the remaining apartments in the complex where the shooting took place…however, there was police activity reported very early in the morning, long before the 9:02 a.m. phone call was placed by Minton’s roommate, Wes Romack, advising the 911 dispatch (where Minton was employed) that they “had a deceased person in their living facility.”
Molly Young
Carr this afternoon released this statement when multiple calls to his office about the filing yesterday and today showed that many people had learned it had happened, and it couldn’t be kept a secret anymore. Judge William G. Schwartz signed off on the order. The next step is for Delfino and his staff to review the documents, assign the case to a prosecutor, and the prosecutor then determine whether there is enough to file charges, or if more investigation is required….which the SPU is allowed to do, and will do when a case has been so mishandled, as this obviously was. The case, Carr said two weeks ago in a press conference, is open and ongoing, but not necessarily under investigation by anyone in his purview. It was and remains investigation by concerned community citizens, as well as downstate media, that has kept the impetus alive and, we’d like to think, is what forced Carr’s hand in bowing out. Incidentally, he filed the MR on the same day Molly’s father Larry Young called for him to recuse himself, during a radio interview at WINI radio, a Murphysboro-Carbondale coverage station. Mike Carr works out of the courthouse in Murphysboro.
The response, we believe, can be credited to the overwhelming pressure from the public and from media that has been generated due to the faithful diligence Larry Young has given this case. We and at least one other outlet (Carbondale Times) have been covering it from the beginning; other outlets have since picked up the ball and have run with it, and the response it has gained has continued to generate national interest, although the nationals don’t seem to know what REALLY goes on in southern Illinois—the abject level of corruption that can cause an entire department to cover for one pissant kid whose dad just happens to be the computer expert for the feds where it comes to internet child pornography and assessing computers of those charged at the federal level (where Mike Carr recently came from in order to run for prosecutor in Jackson.)
This is a momentous development in the case. Please take the time to look at the other Molly Young articles, podcasts and vidcasts we’ve produced about the matter to familiarize yourself with the case…then support the Youngs in their quest for the truth in the death of their daughter. Because none of us in the media could have pushed forward without the interest you as readers, listeners and viewers have in everything we provide for you.