PHOENIX — The roommate of a murder victim was sentenced to probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges tied to the case. Both Shannon Young and her husband Cory Young were arrested in November of 2023, following the murder of Jake Kelly in August.
The pair were charged with hindering prosecution. A third person, Angel Mullooly, is the only one charged with Jake's murder.
Following the 2023 arrest of all three, court documents revealed alleged messages and calls made the night Jake was attacked. Those same documents also say the Youngs allegedly carried Jake from the driveway of their home inside to a bathtub, before leaving him on a couch left without medical care for nearly 18 hours.
Cory is already a convicted felon, serving over a decade in prison. ABC15 has previously reported sources and experts told our team Cory's social media publicly shows pictures of his chest covered in tattoos related to white supremacy.
The first time ABC15 spoke to Jake's mom, Jan Kelly, she said her son was gay. She's been concerned he may have been a target for that reason.
Jan relocated to Arizona with the ultimate goal of getting justice for her son.
In October, Shannon pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution in the first degree.
On December 4, Jake's mom, Jan Kelly, described dozens of friends and relatives of Cory inside the courtroom for Shannon's sentencing.
Jan showed the Judge in court pictures of her son following the August attack.
"Miss Higgins Young was very intoxicated that night, and I'm not telling you that as an excuse," said Shannon's attorney Katie Gibson-McLean. "I'm just trying to set the scene and explain and Miss Higgins Young was not the only person very, very intoxicated that night from what I can discern from the evidence."
Shannon also addressed the judge but did not apologize.
"There were decisions that were made that could have been different," said Shannon. "And some that were out of my control to change. And things that I could have done differently, but I can't change now."
"If you called 911, the result may have been the same," said the Judge. "The result may not have, we don't know. But the fact is that somebody who is supposedly your friend didn't get the help from you that he needed when he most needed it. So because of all of this, a punishment is appropriate."
The judge sentenced Shannon to three years probation and 90 days of deferred jail time.
"It's not what I wanted, of course, and I made that clear in court," said Jan.
Cory, who pleaded guilty in November, is set to be sentenced next month. Mullooly's December 4 court date appears to have been pushed back along with the trial date. ABC15 is checking with court staff to confirm the new date is set for February 2025.
"I don't know what's going to happen when [Angel] gets in to court," said Jan.
But Jan told ABC15, that while it's difficult, she won't quit showing up for her son.
There is a GoFundMe set up to help Jan as she pushes forward.
