GUILTY VA - Erick Younger, 19, Richmond, 2 April 2008

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-04-02-0224.html

2 April 08

Richmond police have arrested a man in connection with a missing-person investigation in which they suspect foul play.

Police arrested Willie Cooley, 48, of Louisa County on a burglary charge this afternoon. Cooley is a person of interest in the disappearance of Erick Younger, 19, Richmond police said.

Police responded to the 1600 block of Spotsylvania Street in the city's East End after a homeowner reported that Younger, her boyfriend, was missing. Police found signs of a violent and bloody struggle at the address, but Younger was not there.

As part of the investigation, police recovered a silver Ford Taurus.
Anyone who may have seen the car yesterday or has information touching on the investigation should call the Richmond Police Tip Line at 514-TIPS or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000.

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http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/17849334.html

17 April 2008

Authorities have recovered a body from a field in Louisa County and have identified it as 19-year-old Erick Younger.

Younger was reported missing April 2nd. During the investigation, police found signs of foul play. 48-year-old Willie Cooley of Louisa was charged with burglary as a result of the initial investigation.

The commonwealth's attorney's office will now be seeking an indictment for murder for Cooley.

From November 2008:

http://www.richmond.com/news/article_224878d8-c3dd-5f4d-b12b-35b27949e78c.html

Cooley, 48, will spend 24 years in prison for the crime. Judge Bradley B. Cavedo of Richmond Circuit Court sentenced him yesterday to 40 years but suspended 16 of those years, and he ordered Cooley to pay $5,000 in restitution...

Cavedo convicted Cooley on Sept. 16 of second-degree murder in the death of Younger, who disappeared April 2 from the apartment of Cooley's former girlfriend, Judy Phillips, on Spotswood Street in Richmond's East End.

Prosecutors say Younger, 19, was struck at least seven times in the head with a 2½-foot-long metal piece of reinforcing bar, likely killing him as he slept in Phillips' bed while she was taking her children to school.

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