A chilling admission became vital evidence against a suspect charged with the deaths of two Brunswick teens.
“I got mad and shot both of them,” said Logan Young in an interview with law enforcement shortly after his 2019 arrest.
It was one of the final pieces of evidence presented against him during his double-murder trial in Brunswick County Superior Court last week.
Young’s trial began more than two weeks ago. On Wednesday, a 12-member jury found him guilty of all three charges he faced: Two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon. The verdict came after approximately two hours of deliberation.
Young, 23, and co-defendant Joshua Larmonte Carter, 23, were arrested and charged in connection with the June 29, 2019, deaths of 19-year-olds Xavier Stevenson and Myla Payne. At the time, Young was 19 years old, and Carter was 20.
Superior Court Judge Bob Roupe presided over the case and sentenced Young to life in prison without the possibility of parole for each murder conviction, saying the “case is horrible in every sense of the word.”
For the attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon charge, Roupe sentenced Young to 64 to 89 months in prison. Each sentence will be served consecutively.
Jon David, district attorney for Brunswick, Bladen and Columbus counties, prosecuted the case for the state alongside Assistant District Attorney Jenna Earley. Young was represented by Assistant Capital Defenders Emily Byrum and Kevin Peters. The state did not seek the death penalty in this case.
“There is no joy in justice,” David said following the conclusion of the case. “Violent crime will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted in this county.”
Following the conclusion of Young’s trial, Carter appeared before Roupe and entered a guilty plea for his role in the deaths. Carter pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Roupe sentenced Carter to 73 to 100 months in prison. Carter has been in custody since his June 30, 2019, arrest and will receive credit for time served on his sentence, according to David.
Final evidence
The state’s evidence in Young’s trial painted a picture of the night of June 29, 2019. The state said Stevenson and Payne picked up Young and Carter before driving to Lee Buck Road, a secluded dirt road in Winnabow, to sell marijuana.
The four had been classmates at South Brunswick High School, David said. The state says Stevenson was in the driver’s seat with Payne in the passenger seat, and Young and Carter were in the back seat of the car.
The state argued a disagreement ensued between Young and Stevenson, and when Stevenson exited the car to urinate, Young shot him in the back of the head. The state said Young then shot Payne in the back of the head.
In a nearly two-hour interview between law enforcement and Young, Young eventually corroborates the state’s theory. The June 30, 2019, interview was conducted the day Young was arrested – a day after the killings – and was played during the trial.
In that interview, Young initially denied he had any involvement in the events of June 29, 2019. He claimed he had talked to Stevenson on June 29 but hadn’t seen him in several days. Young said he had been up late watching Netflix on the evening of the killings.
Young’s story then began to change. He told law enforcement officers he had planned to meet up with Stevenson, but Stevenson never showed to pick him up.
Then, Young admits Stevenson and Payne had picked him up that night, and the three travelled to Lee Buck Road. At first, he maintains his co-defendant Carter was with them but was dropped off before the three went to Lee Buck Road.
Young said an argument ensued when Stevenson said he wouldn’t pay Young’s $100 cut of the deal. Young said he got mad and shot the young couple.
“I just pointed and shot, I didn’t aim,” he said. “I didn’t think about it until I did it.”
Eventually, Young says Carter was present at the scene but he didn’t have anything to do with the killings.
In a phone call to his grandparents following the interview with law enforcement, Young admitted once again to his involvement in the crime. At first Young denied his involvement, but when his grandfather asks who killed them, the then 19-year-old Young answers “I did it” and asks for a lawyer.
Young did not testify at trial.