Defense wants gas receipt blocked in Raleigh man's murder trial

Raleigh, N.C. — Defense attorneys for a Raleigh man going to trial next month for the beating death of his pregnant wife want a judge to block testimony from a convenience store clerk who says she sold him gasoline.

Jason Lynn Young, 37, was arrested in December 2009 on a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of Michelle Young, 29, who was five months' pregnant when she was beaten inside the couple's Wake County home on Nov. 3, 2006.

Attorneys for Jason Young want Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens to suppress the testimony of Gracie Bailey, a store clerk at a convenience store in King, N.C., approximately 120 miles from Raleigh.

Wake County Assistant District Attorney Becky Holt said the state has a cash receipt from the store for a gasoline purchase at 5:27 a.m. on the day Michelle Young was killed.

Jason Young has said he was sleeping in a hotel room in Hillsville, Va., about 45 miles away, at the time, Holt said.

Stephens will hear the defense's motion to suppress the testimony on May 19, also the day Jason Young is scheduled to be arraigned.

Jury selection is expected to begin the week of May 30. Prosecutors have indicated that they will not seek the death penalty.

Investigators haven't offered a motive for Michelle Young's killing, but in search warrants, they have described the couple's marriage as a "volatile" relationship that included violent arguments and infidelity on his part.

According to search warrants, Jason Young told investigators he was out of town on business when his wife was killed. Michelle Young's sister, Meredith Fisher, found her body after he asked her to go to the couple's home to retrieve a fax.

An autopsy found Michelle Young died from blunt force trauma to the head after being hit at least 10 times.

In 2009, a judge awarded Michelle Young's family $15.5 million in damages in a wrongful death suit against Jason Young after he failed to respond to the suit.

Fisher has primary custody of the Youngs' daughter, Cassidy, who was 2 years old when she was found in the same room with her mother's body.

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Latest Comments

Does anyone know who flips the bill for the 15 million?

shagmyers
May 5, 2011 1:58 p.m.

Judge Stephens has this case...he is the best on the bench by far. It was said the trial will be 3 weeks....far cry from the 3 ring circus of the Cooper disaster.

GOPACK80
May 2, 2011 6:27 p.m.

A cash gas receipt doesn't prove he was there. The receipt could have been from anybody. If it was a credit card receipt with his credit card number that would be different.

DontLikeTheSocialistObama
April 27, 2011 6:13 p.m.

"Wake County Assistant District Attorney Becky Holt said the state has a cash receipt from the store for a gasoline purchase at 5:27 a.m. on the day Michelle Young was killed."

A cash receipt doesn't prove anything. I can make one with my PC. It doesn't prove that Young was in the store.

You would think the DA's office would learn better after not presenting any evidence in the Brad Cooper trial.

If they had a credit card receipt that would be different.

DontLikeTheSocialistObama
April 27, 2011 6:10 p.m.

Well OF COURSE the defense wants to supress this witness! However, I certainly don't agree. She should be allowed to testify and the receipt and security cameras should be allowed.