Murder Charge Filed in 1996 Death Investigation

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced charges filed in a 1996 cold case against Donald Eugene Younge Jr. for the alleged murder of Lisa Redmond, a woman working as a pizza delivery driver in West Valley City. 

On December 9, 1996, police were called to an auto-pedestrian accident at 3100 South and 5300 West. Someone found a female wearing a Pizza Hut employee uniform deceased in the road. The victim was later identified as Lisa Redmond. Co-workers of the victim told police that she had been making deliveries in a GMC pickup truck, but that vehicle was not on the scene where the victim was found. The truck was located a day later at 3291 South and 4440 West, a little over a mile from where the victim’s body was found. In the truck, there were signs of a struggle, as well as blood found on components underneath the truck, indicating someone had run over the victim. Detectives found a knife in the truck, as well as a palm print and blood on a seat buckle. The prints and blood were sent to a lab for testing.

Subsequent advanced DNA testing was performed by the State Crime Lab in which a DNA profile taken from the blood on a seat belt buckle in the truck came back with a CODIS hit to Mr. Younge. A DNA standard was obtained from Younge and sent to the lab for comparison, and they came back as a match. A West Valley City Police Department forensic investigator manually compared the prints from the knife to a palm print card with the name Younge and determined them to be a match.

The defendant is charged with first-degree felony murder, first-degree felony aggravated kidnapping, and first-degree felony aggravated robbery. 

The defendant is currently serving a prison term of more than 30 years at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah, for two counts of first-degree felony aggravated sex assault and one count of second-degree felony robbery. 

“We appreciate the hard work of our investigators and detectives at the West Valley City Police Department for their diligent investigation, which helped lead to the filing of these charges. While cold case homicides leave an open wound, a continuing injury, today’s filing is a first step towards closure for the victim’s family and our community,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “All persons accused of wrongdoing are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”