INDIANAPOLIS – A homeless Indianapolis man was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend.
A Marion County jury found Carylon Young, 60, guilty of murder last month.
Police officers found the body of Margaret Means wrapped in several blankets in a parking lot at the corner of Oriental and East Washington Streets on Nov. 18, 2016. According to court documents, an unnamed witness watched the murder happen.
The witness had dinner with both Young and Means that night and told police they were arguing. Later that evening, the witness went to the parking lot to find Young stabbing Means in the neck with a knife, according to court documents.
In his statement to police, Young said he had been in Indianapolis during the time of the murder, but later told police he had left for Ohio with a friend earlier that evening. However, he couldn’t tell police where he stayed in Ohio.
Police also noticed cuts on Young’s right hand that could have been from a knife, according to court documents.
Young spoke in court Thursday for nearly 10 minutes pleading his case. He accused witnesses of lying on the stand and his lawyer of not fighting for him hard enough.
“I’m locked up for a lie,” Young said. “The state and defense knows without a shadow of a doubt I didn’t do it.”
Two police reports said Young had threatened to kill Means. The prosecution said one incident occurred when Young punched Means in a Dick’s Sporting Goods store.
Before her death, Means tried to get off the streets and into an apartment with the help of a local community center, according to court documents. A manager said employees at the community center assumed Means was trying to escape Young because he had shown up there one day, upset at Means for not including his name on the housing list.
He has a history of violence and an extensive criminal background, which extends back to 1990, the judge said. Past convictions include armed robbery, grand larceny, breaking and entering and multiple counts of assault and battery.
Young has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, the judge said. The court recommended Young receive mental health treatment while in prison. This history of mental illness, coupled with his extensive criminal record, was all taken into consideration, the judge said.
Young has filed to appeal this sentence.
