CENTERVILLE — An Ironton, Missouri, man was sentenced recently to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the deaths of two people during a 2017 robbery and shooting.
David John Young was found guilty by a jury on Sept. 1 after a three-day trial and was sentenced Dec. 20 by Crawford County Circuit Judge Megan Seay.
Young was given sentences of life without parole on two charges of the Class A felony of first-degree murder, a life sentence for the Class A felony of first-degree robbery, a life sentence for the Class A felony of first-degree assault and two, 30-year sentences for the unclassified felonies of armed criminal action.
The shooting occurred at 4 p.m. Oct. 18, 2017. The case was investigated by the Reynolds County Sheriff’s Department and Missouri State Highway Patrol, with additional assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the U.S. Marshal Service.
According to earlier reports, James and Janet Nance, who resided off Highway 106, about five miles west of Ellington, were shot and killed during a robbery in their home, while a third person, 73-year-old Arlene Barber, also was shot but survived.
According to then Reynolds County Sheriff Tom Stout, Barber was able to provide descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle.
Leads in the case were very few, Stout earlier reported, but were of high value and led investigators to Young, then 67, and an accomplice, Timothy Callahan, then 44, of Farmington.
Callahan and Young were found in a hotel in Deerfield Township, Ohio, on Oct. 28, 2017, and were extradited back to Reynolds County.
Both Callahan and Young, Stout said at the time, previously had done work for James Nance.
A probable cause affidavit from Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Paul Wells reported Callahan admitted he and Young “traveled to the Nance residence on Highway 106 on Oct. 18, 2017, for the purpose of committing a robbery.”
Callahan told investigators the pair drove Young’s Pontiac Sunfire to the home and “he and Young were armed with a .22-caliber revolver and 9mm handgun.”
The pair, according to Callahan’s statement, stole an undetermined amount of cash from James Nance.
“As this was occurring, Janet Nance and Arlene Barber arrived at the residence,” Wells’ affidavit said. “Callahan stated that he shot James Nance, Janet Nance and Arlene Barber in the back of the head with the .22-caliber revolver. He and Young then fled the scene.”
Young, though his attorney, Susan Bell, has filed an appeal of the sentences.
Callahan previously pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges including first degree murder and was sentenced to life without parole.