A Wyoming man has admitted to murdering two people and pointing a loaded gun at the motorcyclist who witnessed part of his crime, according to court documents.
Luke Thomas Young pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one of aggravated assault in court March 3, according to court records. He was accused in August of shooting Acacia Colvin and Kameron Young-Johnson to death with a .40-caliber pistol on Highway 20/26 near the Natrona County Airport.
Young also gave the Natrona County District Court a detailed description of the crimes when he admitted guilt, his court file states.
Young struck a plea agreement March 3 with Natrona County District Attorney Daniel Itzen.
Young and Itzen agreed that in exchange for Young’s guilty plea on all three counts, Itzen would pursue a life sentence for Young, which is the least severe penalty for first-degree murder.
Without such a plea agreement, first-degree murder also could draw a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.
Young also promised to tell authorities where they could find the pistol he used to murder his victims.
Sentencing will happen at a later date after authorities investigate Young’s life history for the court.
Screaming Into The Open Door
On Aug. 9, Young had spent most of the day traveling with Colvin and Young-Johnson in a red Honda, delivering fentanyl in small Wyoming towns, according to the affidavit filed in his case.
Young and Young-Johnson quarreled for much of the trip, and things grew so tense that Colvin contacted multiple people on her phone saying she was uncomfortable riding in the car with the men.
Young sat in the back seat with his gun, while Young-Johnson drove and Colvin sat in the front passenger seat, the affidavit says.
As the trio approached the Natrona County Airport outside of Casper at about 11 p.m., they drove up behind Kyle Stalkup of Casper, who was riding what he later described as his “slow” motorcycle.
Stalkup pulled over to let the Honda pass.
After it passed Stalkup, the car jerked suddenly to the right and Stalkup slowed down to help because he thought the car may have hit a deer, the affidavit says.
Just then a woman rushed out of the car, knelt in the road and screamed into the open driver’s side doorway.
‘Dumped The Clutch’
A man later identified as Luke Young got out of the passenger side rear door, pulled a gun from his waistband and racked a round into it, Stalkup later recalled.
Young thrust the gun toward Stalkup, according to court testimony from earlier in the case.
Pointing a deadly weapon at a person is charged as aggravated assault in Wyoming. Young has pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault charge as well as the two first-degree murder charges. But his agreed-upon 3- to-5-year penalty for aggravated assault and his two life sentences are slated to run concurrent – that is, at the same time as each other rather than back-to-back.
Stalkup “dumped the clutch” and fled, according to court testimony. As he drove away, he saw a dead man slumped in the driver’s seat of the Honda with a gunshot wound to his head.
Stalkup then heard five gunshots behind him.
Death Scene
When a Natrona County Sheriff’s deputy arrived on scene, he found Acacia Colvin dead face-down on the passenger side of the vehicle surrounded by blood spatter and fresh bullet divots and fragments in the ground.
There were five gunshot wounds in different parts of her body.
Authorities found Young-Johnson dead of a single gunshot wound to the head. He had a 9 mm pistol stashed behind his right leg.
They found Luke Young’s driver’s license in the back passenger-side arm rest compartment of the car, the affidavit says, but Young was gone.
They also found a hypodermic needle with possible fentanyl dust. There also was suspected methamphetamine in the car.
The Hunt
The Natrona County Sheriff’s Office that night dispatched a warning to the public “NOT” to pick up hitchhikers and report any sightings of Young, who was considered armed, dangerous and a “person of interest” in a double homicide.
A civilian spotted Young hopping fences across private property in the Casper area at about 2 p.m. Aug. 10, according to court testimony and public announcements by the sheriff’s office.
Young was arrested after the sighting and was found wearing clothing different from the dark-colored outfit in which Stalkup had seen him.
There were no drugs or weapons on Young when he was found, according to court testimony.
Buddies
Young and Young-Johnson, had been friends while incarcerated and had met at the “boot camp,” which is a Wyoming program for young offenders.
Young-Johnson had picked up Young from Young’s prison work-release program days prior, on Aug. 2, according to court testimony.
Citing phone text records, authorities said the men had a plan to deliver drugs into Wyoming’s Basin area Aug. 9.
Young reportedly told one buyer that he had no shortage of fentanyl pills to sell.
