People v. Young

The defendant, Joseph Young, age 20, was convicted of the murder and armed robbery of Mrs. Willie Davis, age 63, at a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County. The People sought the death penalty. Pursuant to the defendant’s request, a jury was selected to consider defendant’s eligibility for the death penalty and whether to impose it.

At the bifurcated penalty hearing, the jury found the defendant eligible for the death penalty, in that he was over 18 years of age and had committed a murder in the course of an armed robbery. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 9—1(b).) In the second…