Guilty verdicts in Buffalo Grove couple's stabbing deaths

After three days of testimony and three hours of closing arguments and instructions, it took a Rolling Meadows jury a little more than 41/2 hours to find Robert Young guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Sharmaine "Cookie" Gregory and second-degree murder in the death of Catonis "Tony" Jones.

The seven-woman, five-man jury also found Young guilty of residential burglary.

Young, 32, formerly of Happfield Drive in Arlington Heights, had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the December 2006 stabbing deaths of the Buffalo Grove couple who sustained more than 100 wounds between them.

After the verdict, Assistant State's Attorney Marilyn Hite-Ross said it was a "good possibility the jury would come back with a verdict of second-degree murder" with regard to Jones, with whom Young had a contentious relationship. Both men used and sold drugs, and according to Gregory's son Tywune Kennedy, Jones threatened Young with a knife several weeks before the murders, accusing Young of stealing his laptop.

In her closing statement, Hite-Ross suggested Young killed Gregory because he didn't want to leave a witness.

"The families are pleased with the verdict," said Hite-Ross. "We believe justice has been done."

A conviction on two counts of first-degree murder would have made Young eligible for the death penalty. Instead, he faces 20 to 60 years in prison.

"We're relieved that Robert does not have to face the death penalty," said Young's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jim Mullenix. "He'll still face a substantial amount of jail time."

Friday's proceedings began with a closing argument from Assistant State's Attorney Karen Crothers, who used "savage," "slaughter," "decimated" and "unthinkable, unimaginable betrayal" to describe the murders of Jones, 39, and Gregory, 42, who were killed in their home, "the place that's supposed to be your sanctuary, the place that's supposed to be safe," Crothers said.

Crothers dismissed the self-defense argument Mullenix and co-counsel Bernard Sarley had advanced.

"Think about the force and rage it would take to stab two people - that you would literally break the handle off a knife," she said, referring to several broken knives recovered from the scene.

"When was it self-defense?" said Hite-Ross in her closing statement as she pointed to a paused videotape image of one of the victims' multiple stab wounds. "After this wound, or this wound, or this wound?"

Mullenix responded that the number of wounds the victims received has no bearing on a claim of self-defense. In his closing statement, Mullenix cited as mitigating factors the volatile relationship between Young and Jones, a relationship to which several witnesses testified. Young "acted under sudden and intense passion" resulting from "intense provocation," said Mullenix, adding that his client believed at the time of the incident that excessive force was necessary to save his own life. Those factors, Mullenix said, allow a jury to a verdict of second-degree murder.

Crothers spoke about inconsistencies in the statements Young gave to police regarding the deadly encounter that followed several hours the defendant and Jones smoked crack cocaine with another man, prosecution witness James Stevens. Mullenix questioned the reliability of Stevens, who was on parole at the time for a 2004 burglary conviction. After four days of police questioning, Stevens changed his story, saying he saw Young pull a knife from his pocket and swipe at Jones, Mullenix said.

Describing Stevens as a "guy who lies so much he even lies about his lies," Mullenix insisted that Stevens said what he needed to say to avoid drug and parole violation charges.

An impassioned Hite-Ross urged the jury to reject Young's self-defense claim as fiction.

"It was a fight for life," she said, referring to Young's statement to police, "but not his life."

"Self-defense? Unreasonable belief? Sudden intense passion? Absolutely not," she said. "First-degree murder, that's what this is."

The verdict suggested the jury agreed with both sides.