Molly was last seen at home sleeping just after 10:00 P.M. By the morning, Molly was no longer at home. About 5:30 A.M. her mother sent a text that would never be returned. Mom went looking for her to no avail. About 9:02 A.M., a 911 call came in from her ex-boyfriend’s residence. Molly was dead. Her ex, Richie Minton, reported that he woke up and “she’s covered in blood. She overdosed. She bled out through her nose”. He later told police he saw a pill bottle next to her body. He said she committed suicide. Listening to the 911 recording was astounded to hear him completely relaxed. Seven minutes later, he calls in to the Carbondale Police dispatch and asked to send a Sergeant. “She didn’t just O.D. I just found my gun laying underneath her”. He later said that when the ex went to see if there was anything he could do, he moved her and noticed that his handgun was laying next to her and saw a head wound consistent with a gunshot wound. Richie Minton didn’t show up that same morning to his 7:00 A.M. shift as a Carbondale 911 operator. One of his co-workers were texting him to find out where he was because he was a no-call no-show for work. According to Minton, that is what woke him up and finding Molly dead. At the apartment, police let him wash his hands and change his clothes. The Chief knew that because the Minton was employed with the Carbondale Police it may be a conflict of interest. He reportedly locked the scene down and contact the Illinois State Police to take over the investigation. During the interview Minton said he went out the night before and had been drinking. He threw up on his close and called Molly to come to his house and help him get out of his clothes. True Crime Daily reported that Minton told investigators Molly was abused as a child and had previously tried to commit suicide. That morning, he passed out drunk and “must have slept through it”. By 10:00 A.M., his parents and his attorney were at the police station, and he would no longer talk to Investigators. Minton had two fresh six-inch scratches on his side. Minton didn’t know where they came from and may have gotten them when he was giving Molly CPR. Before there was ever a search warrant for Minton’s home, where it was clear that Molly died, Two State Troopers went to Molly’s residence with a search warrant “to go in Molly’s bedroom, get the computer and got her camera”. The results showed that on her computer were multiple searches of the word “suicide” made the night she was last at home. She had journals with several references to her unhappiness with life; however, these journals were made when she was sixteen. There was a handwritten “suicidal” note on the floor of her bedroom. It was written the year prior as a goodbye letter without using the word “suicide”, right after her cancer scare when she thought she was going to die of cancer. The Southern Illinoisan reported that “According to Illinois State Police records, the search warrant was issued the day of her death at 3:52 p.m. for the seizure of cheek swabs, blood, urine and fingernail clippings from Minton. That was seven hours after Minton called 911 to report that Young had committed suicide at the Carbondale apartment he shared with a roommate. Samples were drawn about 7:10 p.m., records show, 10 hours after her death was reported.” The next day, the coroner reported: “The investigation conducted by the agencies involved indicated self-inflicted wound. The manner of death is classifiable as suicide.” According to True Crime Daily, The interview Investigators had with Minton’s roommate states it was “open knowledge that she’s had very suicidal thoughts for some time”. He worked until about 5:30 A.M. About 4:40 A.M. that morning, the roommate had texts from Molly sent right before she died. Romack: "The last text she sent me, all I remember was it said he had been texting another girl, asking her to stay the night, and that he was so drunk he couldn't walk, and she also apologized if I came home to anything dramatic." Actually, what the text said was: "I think I'm gonna shoot myself in the head. I'm really really sorry if you come home to that." The roommate never called the police? Or 911? The roommate said he went to sleep at home about 7:00 A.M. to 7:30 A.M. Minton opened his bedroom door waking him up saying “Molly’s dead, help, I can’t find my phone.” How could anyone sleep through the sound of a gunshot in the same apartment nevertheless in the same room? Who sent the texts from Molly’s phone? Minton can’t find his phone? Why didn’t he use Molly’s phone? It would take two months after her death to retrieve Minton’s computer or phone. An interview with Molly’s friend shows that Molly was with him at a local club the night the “suicide” searches on her computer were made, pleading that it couldn’t have therefore been Molly who made those searches. Moreover, the gunshot entered the top of the left side of her head with his gun “execution style” according to her dad. Molly was right handed. There was no gunshot residue on Molly’s hands. Her fingerprints were not on the gun. Minton’s hands were washed and he changed his clothes at the scene. When he was tested for gunshot residue, there was none. His DNA was found under Molly’s fingernails. His roommate also had scratches. Ten months after Molly’s death a coroner’s inquest was made. If you’ve never been to one, let me explain. It’s quick, it’s made just like a jury, usually six citizens that listen to the coroner and any other witnesses (usually just law enforcement, first responders – from the initial scene, possibly the family). Only the coroner can ask the witnesses questions. The six listen, make notes, ask questions, and then vote right then and there of their conclusions – Accident, criminal, undetermined. That’s it. In Molly’s inquest, the family got to ask a few questions and were unable to speak or state their findings. While the ones I have personally attended did allow the family to speak, Molly’s family was basically silenced. This jury resulted as “undetermined”. This meant that her cause of death listed as “suicide” by the coroner, now had to be changed to state “undetermined”. The family attempted a wrongful death suit, yet they were not given records including the 911 call recording or even Molly’s phone records. When they did get her phone records, they found someone deleted her text messages off of her phone. All of Minton’s messages prior to March 9 were gone. The roommate gets interviewed again. Romack: "I got home and looked through Richie's phone. When I arrived home his phone was sitting in the common room bathroom, and I knew he'd been drinking that night, and I looked through the phone to see I guess kind of where his night ended up." Though in his original statement he said Minton came in to his room, woke him up, told him Molly was dead and he needed the roommates phone, he is now telling police he found Minton’s phone while Minton was sleeping. Why didn’t he give Minton his phone when he supposedly asked for it? The roommate told Investigators he did not delete anything from Minton’s phone. It’s very disheartening and confusing to see the reports that the Carbondale police were “on the scene in the neighborhood of 7:00 A.M”. Also the same time Minton said he slept thru waking up for work. The 911 call not made till 9:00 A.M. Why were police there? Was the official log looked at why police were at the location around that time? True Crime Daily reported their conversation with the Chief of Police, who said “contact was made with him, and that he was going to come in but he was going to be a little bit late”. Was that contact when, prior to, or after his ex-girlfriend was found dead and the 911 call to report it made? September 25, 2012 Minton was charged with a DUI, Class A Misdemenor, later dismissed 11/7/2012 He was however on probation when he got his DUI. October 9, 2013 Minton was again charged with a DUI, Class A Misdemeanor, again dismissed 11/6/2014. Lucky guy. June 30, 2014 was the wrongful death suit against Minton by Molly’s family, also dismissed 5/8/2015. His request for police documents took so long to receive that it passed his statute of limitations for the lawsuit. “Molly’s Law” fore fronted by her father later passed requiring that anyone filing a request under the “Freedom of Information Act” is given the request within thirty days or face stiff penalties. Molly’s family continues to fight for the truth to be known. Like hundreds of other families, silence has struck Molly’s justice for eight years. It is time to bring her story back to the forefront.
MOLLY'S OBITUARY (as printed on the Southern Illinoisan)
Molly Marie Young, 21, died Saturday, March 24, 2012, in Carbondale. Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in Huffman-Harker-Walker Funeral Home, 210 W. Oak St., in Carbondale with Charlie Lamont officiating. Interment will be in Oakland Cemetery. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to The Women's Center, 610 S. Thompson St., Carbondale, IL 62901. Molly was born April 15, 1990, in Carbondale. She attended SIU and was employed by Victoria's Secret. Molly was an artist and had a great love for music, film and photography. She had won an award at Carnegie Hall for her photograph, which was also chosen to hang at the U.S. Department of Education. Molly was a true original. She was a wonderful daughter, sister and friend, who was loved by many and will be greatly missed. She would want to be remembered by the verse, John 14:27. Survivors include her father, Larry G. Young and wife, Linda Young, of Johnston City; mother, Kathy J. Spiller of Carbondale; two sisters, Shana Young and fiancé, Buck Sayre, of Charlotte, N.C., and Holly Young and fiancé, Philip Powell, of Marion; grandmother, Colleen Milligan of Carbondale; grandfather, Glenn Young of West Frankfort; stepsister, Merissa and husband, Tom Madden, of Marion; stepbrother, Shannon and wife, Kelli Geer, of West Frankfort; stepgrandmother, Margaret Lamont of West Frankfort; and many aunts, uncles and cousins. She was preceded in death by her grandfather, Ralph Milligan; and grandmother, Betty Young.
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