The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the 2020 murder conviction of a Douglas County woman who appealed her case on the grounds that she was mentally incompetent.
Glenda M. Young, 78, of Ava, will continue serving a life sentence without parole for the 2017 death of her husband, David Young, who was shot in the face with a Ruger 9 mm pistol. An additional 30-year sentence for a conviction of armed criminal action is being served concurrently with the life sentence.
A grand jury indicted Young in May 2018 following a 16-month investigation by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, she later waived her right to a jury trial in 2019.
In May 2020, Young agreed to enter an Alford plea to one count of voluntary manslaughter, which would have carried a sentence of 10 to 15 years. Under the plea, she did not admit guilt but conceded the prosecution had enough evidence to convict her.
According to the court’s brief, Young appeared mentally competent at the time, answered questions about her past mental health and stated she understood she was entering the plea to avoid a potentially worse outcome at trial. Her attorney also told the court she was mentally competent to enter the plea. However, once the prosecution began advising of the range of punishment, Young changed her mind and withdrew the plea with the understanding that the original charges would be reinstated.
The state high court’s brief includes details of the investigation that were not previously made public in a probable cause statement because the charges originated from a grand jury indictment. At approximately 4 p.m. Jan. 20, 2017, Young called the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department to report she had come home to find her husband dead from what appeared to be an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound.
At the scene, a deputy reported finding blood at the base of a recliner, a pistol underneath the chair and a spent shell casing under the recliner’s back cushion. The deputy also discovered a blood-covered phone under the chair and blood drops leading to the bedroom where David Young’s body was found.
Another deputy spoke with Young that day. She reportedly claimed her husband had been cleaning his gun after lunch while she was outside, and that she later went to a liquor store and returned to find his body.
Investigators later determined a friend of the victim received a voicemail from him at 11:02 a.m. the day of the shooting stating that he had been shot. Another friend received a missed call from the victim around the same time, but when he attempted to return the call roughly an hour and 15 minutes later, there was no answer. A deputy testified that phone records showed the victim attempted to call the sheriff’s department after calling his friends, but mistakenly dialed the wrong area code.
A neighbor reported she spoke with Young on the day of the shooting and was told Young was away when it happened. However, about two months later, the neighbor said Young claimed she and her husband had been arguing about the gun when it accidentally discharged.
During the investigation, authorities discovered that approximately $710,000 in life insurance policies had been taken out on the victim after Young learned of an extramarital affair. Young was named the sole beneficiary, contingent upon the two remaining married and her residing in their home at the time of his death.
Surveillance footage from Mom and Pops Bait & Beverage in Ava showed Young arriving at the store at 3:17 p.m. the day of the shooting. She was wearing different clothing than when law enforcement arrived at her home a little more than an hour later.
An ex-husband of Young's also testified that she had pulled a gun on him and threatened to kill him during a 1998 incident. The incident was never reported to law enforcement; instead, he took her to a hospital where she was voluntarily committed to a psychiatric ward for three days.
About a month after the shooting, Young was questioned again by authorities. She stated she and her husband had been arguing when she reached for the gun but did not touch it before it went off. She also told law enforcement the victim had been cleaning the firearm and she believed it was unloaded because he had emptied the magazine. She claimed she did not know her husband had been shot and ran outside out of fear, traveling to town and discovering his body only upon her return a few hours later.
In closing statements during the bench trial, the defense argued Young had reacted poorly and that her memory was inconsistent due to the shock of seeing her husband shot in the face. She also attributed her poor recollection to her age and the effects of diabetes. The defense maintained that the alleged threats to her ex-husband nearly 20 years prior should not have been considered because the incident was never reported and the couple remained married for another eight years.
Former 31st Circuit Judge Calvin Holden, who presided over the bench trial and determined Young’s guilt, stated he believed she intentionally shot her husband, waited for him to die and called the sheriff’s department hours later.
In its unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court noted that Young's claim of "shock" was unsupported. Although expert witnesses testified about the condition, the court noted the inconsistent statements were made weeks and months after the shooting, and no evidence indicated Young was otherwise mentally incompetent to stand trial.
