The family of Molly Young welcomes the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Jackson County States Attorney Mike Carr publicly announced the appointment of a special prosecutor on Tuesday. Twenty-one year old Molly Young Young, of Carbondale, died in March of 2012. She was shot and her body was found in the apartment of her former boyfriend, Richie Minton, who was a Carbondale police dispatcher at the time of Young's death.
Carr maintains that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with a murder prosecution. Carr has previously said that evidence at the coroner’s inquest suggested Young’s death may have been a suicide. There have been questions about potential mishandling of evidence in the case. Carr said he has not found evidence to suggest there was a cover-up.
Young’s death garnered national media attention earlier this summer when Carr announced that he would not file murder charges in the case and young’s family took their concerns public. Carr says he does not believe his impartiality has been challenged. But, he says he sought a special prosecutor to avoid any appearance that his decisions may have been made unfairly or improperly. Carr declined to comment any further, saying his written statement speaks for itself.
Young's uncle, Charles Lamont says the family welcomes the decision to appoint a special prosecutor. Lamont says they are seeking justice and all of the truth about what happened. Lamont says knowing all of the truth will be good for all parties. Lamont says he's certain Carr is a good prosecutor, but he says Carr is relying on state police reports that Lamont considers are incomplete at best and at worst cast doubt on the state police investigation. Lamont is retired a retired Mt. Vernon police officer.
The State's Attorney Appellate Prosecutor will take on the case for now and appoint an attorney as special prosecutor.
