LIMA — Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed on Monday announced a guilty verdict for Timothy Youngblood in the July 2018 stabbing death of his father. A mandatory prison sentence of 15 years to life was immediately handed down in the case that caused double heartache for the Lima family.
Reed heard testimony last week in the case of the 33-year-old man charged with murder in the 2018 stabbing death of his father, Van Youngblood, with a military-style sword at the family’s home at 311 E. 14th St., Lima.
In announcing his verdict, Reed said that after reviewing all the exhibits and evidence in the case, it was his conclusion that Youngblood committed the acts contained in the indictment against him.
“The court finds that the defendant had a mental illness and/or disease but did not have a mental defect and that the defense failed in its burden to prove Mr. Youngblood did not have knowledge of the wrongfulness of his conduct when he stabbed his father,” Reed said.
Defense Attorney Kirk McVay said the Youngblood family “suffered a tremendous loss” when Van Youngblood was killed, “and now today they have suffered a second tremendous loss.”
He said Timothy Youngblood would appeal the verdict.
Youngblood waived his right to a jury trial earlier this year. He had previously entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. After being ruled incompetent to stand trial in October 2018, two psychiatric examinations determined that Youngblood had been fully restored to competency.
Police say 65-year-old Van Youngblood was stabbed multiple times by his son with the weapon that was taken from a shadowbox in the family home. At issue in the trial to the court was the son’s ability at the time to understand the consequences of his actions.
Dr. Kara Marciani, a psychologist at the Forensic Psychiatry Center for Western Ohio in Dayton, testified she had no doubt that Youngblood “did have knowledge of the wrongfulness of his acts” when he stabbed his father up to nine times with a sword.
Defense witness Dr. Jamie Adkins, an independent psychologist who was agreed by all parties to be an expert witness, concluded the man had no knowledge that his actions were wrong at the time of the incident.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
