The Illinois Public Access Bureau determined the state police must release improperly withheld records in the Molly Young case, according to information obtained by the Associated Press. 

Former SIU student Molly Young died in March 2012 from a gunshot wound to the head at the apartment of her ex-boyfriend Richie Minton, a Carbondale police dispatcher at the time. 

The bureau made the determination Monday after Larry Young, father of Molly Young, appealed his Freedom of Information Act request denial to the agency.

Advertisement

“ISP has not articulated a legal rationale that justifies withholding personal information concerning Ms. Young from her father,” Joshua Jones, the Public Access Bureau’s supervising attorney wrote in a report given to the Associated Press.

Larry Young said the process of getting this documentation has taken more than 14 months.

“[The attorney general] made the determination that they didn’t give me all the documents in 2013,” Larry Young said. “Not only that, they redacted things improperly that they were not supposed to redact by law. I knew they did that because I had written them a letter asking for an additional investigation with the witnesses from the apartment complex and they redacted my own letter.” 

Larry Young is also working on FOIA requests he said the Carbondale Police has denied. 

In 2014, Larry Young filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Richie Minton. The suit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had passed three months prior to the suit being filed, according to court documents. 

“We want a law passed that there is no statute of limitations on official misconduct when a death is involved,” he said. “That helps other people. I don’t want anyone else to go through this.” 

The case remains open after a States Attorney Appellate Prosecution review of the case in 2014 was inconclusive. 

Advertisement*