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Son's Slaying Trial Begins In Pasco County

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

Ryan Young, right, is accused of killing his mother Donna Young on April 17, 2007.

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By TODD LESKANIC

tleskanic@tampatrib.com

Published: January 21, 2009

Updated: 01/21/2009 09:52 pm

NEW PORT RICHEY - The months leading up to Donna Young's death hadn't been great for her only son.

Ryan Young and his wife, married in November 2005, separated less than a year later after he revealed he was gay. The revelation was disappointing to his mother, who had been overjoyed at her son's decision to marry. Young also had lost his job at Michaels and his financial security.

By April 2007, he was working as a clerk at a convenience store. He sold jewelry at a local pawn shop and borrowed money from his mother, who made $8.50 an hour working at a local medical equipment company.

In an opening statement Wednesday, Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis told a jury that Young's financial desperation and his anger at his mother's reaction to his homosexuality pushed him to kill her.

"He knew he was heir to her living trust and will," Halkitis said.

Young, charged with first-degree murder, faces life in prison if convicted. His trial is expected to last through Friday.

Donna Young, a 52-year-old with multiple sclerosis, suffocated to death as she lay in bed inside her Hathaway Drive home. Her son dialed 911 just before noon on April 17, 2007, to report that his mother was in bed with a pillow over her face and appeared to be dead.

In his opening statement, Assistant Public Defender Dean Livermore pointed out a weakness in the state's case.

"What you will not see in this case is any physical proof that Ryan Young killed his mother," Livermore said. "You will not see or hear any scientific proof that he had anything to do with the death of his mother."

What jurors did begin to hear Wednesday were Young's changing stories to investigators about what happened that morning.

Young acknowledged cutting a window screen and opening drawers in an attempt to stage a robbery scene, something he denied at first. His accounts varied from finding his mother with a pillow over her face to finding her dead and then placing the pillow over her face.

Young also told investigators he was angry with his mother and happy that she was dead, authorities said.

In his opening statement, Halkitis said Young killed his mother hours before calling 911. A surveillance camera mounted outside the nearby community clubhouse captured someone parking a light-colored car in the clubhouse parking lot just after 2 a.m. April 17.

Sheriff's Detective Greg Hinnant testified that the video showed a figure getting out of the car and going toward the house, then returning and leaving about an hour later. Young drove a white Toyota Avalon at the time, Halkitis said.

On cross examination, however, Hinnant said he couldn't identify the figure or even tell if the driver was a woman or a man.

Livermore also contends that Young's statements to investigators were not made voluntarily and that he repeatedly asked to leave the interview but wasn't allowed.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084.

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